DEFINING THE KOSHER INDUSTRY The manufacturing of kosher products, once confined to an exclusive market of kosher-keeping Jews, is no longer limited to the Jewish Segment. True, the Jewish community is experiencing an enormous movement towards stricter adherence to kosher dietary laws (which also include the requirements of Passover food, are observed by at least 92 percent of American Jewry and accounts for 40 percent of annual sales). However, this surprisingly places them as only a part of the whole worldwide demand for kosher food. The proliferation and expansion of the kosher industry today is due to other factors as well. Of great importance is the Muslim community, whose dietary regulations are also fulfilled by the laws of kosher. The Seventh Day Adventists find their own obligations to the Old Testament1s dietary requirements satisfied by the kosher statutes. Yet perhaps most significant is the general population, whose growing awareness of the kosher symbol of certification has come to be regarded as an added value, a kind of "good housekeeping seal of approval," of spirituality and cleanliness. The past twenty years have magnified the number of products certified kosher to well over 2,000 percent. In fact, an astronomical 41,000 products distributed by more than 8,400 companies are certified kosher in the United States alone. The market research of the mid-nineties done by Integrated Marketing and Communications, Inc., estimates the kosher consumer base at approximately 15 million while including the Israeli market. With the establishment of new Jewish communities and synagogues from Bangkok and Peru to Postville, Iowa, more people have become exposed to the kosher concept at every level of these ever-widening communities. Even our American lingo has been affected by the universal phrase, 3It1s Kosher!2 when referring to something that is good and okay. Consequently, there are untold millions of people that, although not strictly keeping kosher, have now become aware of what kosher is and would rather choose a certified-kosher product from the grocery aisle over one that is not. Additionally, the increased emigration from Muslim countries as well as the overall trend of the general population towards returning to religious values makes the actual numbers of the ever-evolving kosher industry difficult to accurately gauge. Therefore, it is the consumer demand for kosher products that speaks for itself, with the result of significant sales increases, when the company acquires kosher certification with a well respected, consumer approved kosher agency.  |
