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Friday March 9, 2007

Jewish label adding healthy options

Months before the holiday, the Passover season had already begun at Manischewitz, the 118-year-old brand known around the world for matzah, gefilte fish, chicken soup and sweet wine.

But as its matzah factory annually churns out 75.6 million sheets of unleavened bread in 14 flavors for its core Jewish customers, company leaders are creating a new strategy: turning a staid brand into more of a contemporary, perhaps even trendy, one.

The country’s largest manufacturer of processed kosher foods is trying to grow by offering kosher options in line with gourmet and health trends — flavored olive oil, wasabi horseradish sauce and whole grain noodles — as well as appealing to non-Jewish consumers who buy kosher food because they believe it is cleaner or like the dairy-free options.

“It’s not your bubbe’s matzah and gefilte fish anymore,” said Jeremy Fingerman, president and chief executive officer of R.A.B. Food Group of Secaucus, N.J., which acquired the Manischewitz brand in 1998.

Non-Jews represent one of the fastest-growing sectors in the kosher market. They are looking for healthier food options, similar to growth in the organic or natural foods market.

All of Manischewitz’s factories are overseen by rabbis, who regularly inspect food, ingredients and machinery to ensure they meet all kosher specifications.

“Kosher is perceived as being cleaner, better, purer,” Fingerman said. However, he does not promise healthier.

Last May, R.A.B. acquired the 136-year-old Rokeach brand, whose holdings include Mother’s, Mrs. Adler’s and Mishpacha, adding to the company’s other kosher lines of Goodman’s and Horowitz Margareten.

It is also working to gain a foothold in the “specialty food market” by buying or creating more ethnic and gourmet brands, such as Guiltless Gourmet and Asian Harvest.

“Americans are much more adventurous in what they’re willing to try and eat,” company chairman Richard A. Bernstein said. “We’re trying to be more contemporary both for the core consumer but also be attractive to the non-Jewish consumer.”

R.A.B. Food Group gross sales are up, from $68 million five years ago to about $100 million now, company officials said.

Manischewitz’s foray into other areas of the supermarket besides the kosher aisle won’t be easy, said Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst at Mintel, a market research firm in Chicago which estimates the market of certified kosher foods in the United States to be $40 billion.

She said the company has to sell itself as more than an ethnic company, yet not alienate its traditional customers.

“Manischewitz has such a strong identity as an ethnic Jewish food company, and even more so as a ‘Jewish holiday’ company,” she said. “If it wants to transition into the ‘specialty food’ world or even the mainstream supermarket it has to downplay part of that heritage.” — ap

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