Organic Families

Buoyed by a surging consumer interest in healthy, clean food, the number of packaged kosher products is booming. From honey to apple juice to chocolate, Northern California producers are contributing to this national phenomenon.

According to kosher food industry maven Menachem Lubinsky of Integrated Marketing Communications, the number of packaged kosher certified products has jumped to 70,000, a whopping 55 percent increase over the 45,000 products available just three years ago.

“In the early ’80s,” says Moon Shine co-owner Ishai Zeldner, “I received only a few requests for kosher certification. Today, there’s a wider understanding and interest in kosher food.”

Lubinsky estimates that 10 million consumers purchased kosher products in 2000. Jews comprise about 20 percent of the market; others include Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists, vegetarians, and people with lactose intolerance or food allergies.

Like the UL stamp on electronic products, many consumers view “kosher” as a symbol of quality.

To get the kosher certification, agencies inspect producers and manufacturers for adherence to Jewish laws. Among them:

– Use permissible animals and animal by-products only (no pigs, rabbits or shellfish).

– Raise animals on specially grown feed and slaughter them in a humane manner.

– Refrain from mixing meat and dairy ingredients in the same product.

The largest kosher certifying agency in the western United States is Kosher Supervision of America (symbol KSA), based in Los Angeles. Rabbi Tzemach Rosenfeld, senior kashrus coordinator, who sees local trends first-hand, says, “More West Coast specialty food companies are becoming certified in part because the critical mass of raw ingredients is now kosher.”

In the last few years, KSA has certified increasing numbers of health foods like organic juices and tofu, as well as products like gourmet olive oils, teas and candies.

When Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker moved its plant from South San Francisco to Berkeley earlier this year, co-owner Robert Steinberg checked with Rabbi Rosenfeld about getting kosher certification.

“Chocoholics who enjoy our candy, bakeries who use our products – even the packing firm who puts our cocoa powder in tins – encouraged us to become certified. The move was the ideal time to make it happen,” Steinberg says.

Most kosher chocolate sold today is milk chocolate, considered a dairy kosher food. But Scharffen Berger makes only bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. “Our dark chocolate is pareve, a kosher food that is considered Ôneutral’ – neither meat nor dairy,” he says. One result: Observant cooks can serve a dessert made with pareve Scharffen Berger chocolate after a pot roast holiday meal.

Many supermarkets now stock milk that is both kosher and organic. But a dozen years ago, before organic certification was broadly sanctioned, Clover- Stornetta owner Dan Benedetti wanted to tell consumers about the clean production methods at the Petaluma dairy.

Benedetti, who is not Jewish, understood that kosher certification meant a rigorous inspection cycle and a tradition of high rabbinic standards.

“In the late 1980s, there was nothing to label our agricultural product as safe. When we put the kosher symbol on our milk, we reached out to the budding community in the Bay Area looking for natural foods,” he says. “Later we became organic certified.”

When the Straus Family Creamery in Marin County began producing organic milk in 1994, the dairy used kosher practices. Vivien Straus, director of marketing, explains, “Our family is Jewish, and it was important for us to move toward kosher certification for our milk.” The company got the certification in 1999.

For more than 100 years, Watsonville juice manufacturer Martinelli’s produced award-winning apple juice without any interest in kosher certification – until three years ago when Tony Robinson became national sales manager.

“This is one of many purchasing decisions that consumers make,” Robinson says. “Many of our customers feel that the kosher symbol now on our bottles denotes a wholesome product.”

Martinelli’s juice and cider – along with many kosher products – are sold at the seven area Mollie Stone’s markets. The Palo Alto location, the only Bay Area supermarket where fresh kosher meat is cut daily, also has the largest kosher products selection, listed on line at www.molliestones.com.

The international foods aisle of Andronico’s San Francisco store carries the largest kosher selection of the chain’s 10 Bay Area stores. But a prominent kosher sign above two tall shelving units touts the section at the newest store in Danville.

By year’s end, all Andronico’s stores will allocate more refrigerated space for kosher dairy products, salads and dips, says Parrish Placencia, dairy and deli buyer for Andronico’s.

Costco is also responding to growing interest in kosher foods. Tracy Mauldin-Avery, general merchandise manager for the Bay Area stores, notes that many of Costco’s staple products are now kosher.

“Our buyers notice that members look for certification as part of their quest for healthier, less processed products,” she points out.

Many of Trader Joe’s branded products are also kosher. Buyer Cara Yokomizo notes that kosher products fit the chain’s concept of a “clean ingredient list” – natural foods with no artificial color or additives.

Trader Joe’s also stocks fresh, pre-packaged kosher chicken parts and boneless breasts in the refrigerated case, as well as the frozen Empire kosher chicken available at many local supermarkets.

Consumers’ perception of the affinity between kosher products and organic, healthy food, and an understanding that kosher certification means the food has met additional standards has propelled Bay Area producers and retailers to make kosher food more accessible.

But for Scharffen Berger’s Steinberg, the decision has held personal meaning. “I feel especially good about going kosher now. John (Scharffenberger) and I feel like this product is our baby. We want everyone to enjoy it.”