Kosher Food Industry

Oogot Lekol At Bakery

"Tastes to Remember"

1048 S Moline St
Aurora, Colorado 80012
303-343-0804

All baking and decorating is done by Lea Mordehayev who has 15 years experience in baking, cooking and cake decorating. She studied under Chef Malka Ouwadiev.

Oogot Lekol At product's are all fresh and made to order.

Please call two days in advance for small orders or four days in advance for larger orders.

Kosher supervision:
Vaad HaKashrus of Denver
All products are pareve Pas Israel.

Kosher Market Grows by 15% in 2005 – 2006, New Survey Shows

(New York) Sales of kosher foods in the US grew by 15% in the last 12 months, according to data released this week by LUBICOM Marketing Consulting, which co-produces Kosherfest with Diversified Business Communications of Portland ME. The annual survey released in advance of the upcoming kosher food show (November 14-15 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center) indicates that this is the 10th straight year for double digit growth by the industry. According to LUBICOM, an estimated 11.2 million Americans buy kosher food products on a fairly regular basis with nearly 3 times the amount (21% of all Americans) buying an occasional product, according to the 2005 survey by the Mintel Research Organization. While some of the growth is attributed to the core group of everyday kosher consumers (1.1 million), there is a growing number of consumers who say they buy kosher products for health and safety reasons. Others include vegetarians, Muslims, and members of other religious groups. The number of packaged good items on supermarket shelves is approaching 100,000 with nearly double that number for ingredient items. US sales of kosher certified items is estimated at $195 billion (nearly 40% of all foods sold) while the market for kosher products is $10.5 billion). There were more than 2500 new kosher certified items in the past 12 months.

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish

Duncan Hines Pareve Decision Puts Focus on Pareve Cake Mixes

(New York) The news that Duncan Hines had reversed its 2005 decision to make its cake mixes dairy was seen as a victory for consumers clamoring for the pareve cake mixes. It also put a new focus on a category that retailers say has emerged as trendy new kosher product. Some consumers could hardly contain their excitement that they could once again have the Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow - the best selling cake mix in the country - and other consumer favorites such as Devil’s Food, Lemon Supreme and Butter Recipe Golden. According to the Orthodox Union, which certifies Duncan Hines, pareve production began in September and Duncan Hines has begun shipping product to stores. It should be in most locations by November and December, the company says. “We are very excited to again offer Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Cake Mixes as non-dairy pareve products,” declared Chief Executive Officer Jeff Ansell. “We are now able to ensure that our production facilities can produce dairy-free product with certainty. This is based on moving our dairy-based cakes to another production facility. We made this shift in production because we wanted to once again offer our long-time and valued pareve consumers non-dairy cake mixes. It was a difficult decision last year to change away from pareve. We heard both from consumers and trade customers and that is why we worked hard to make the move back to pareve,” said Ansell. “Successful companies make smart decisions, even if it means reversing a previous decision,” declared Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher.

When Duncan Hines decided to go dairy, the void was immediately filled by the R.A.B. Food Group, under its Manischewitz brand. Retailers say that the Manischewitz cake mixes have become a “best seller.” R.A.B.’s Vice President of Marketing David Rossi credits the Manischewitz success to the Duncan Hines decision. “Duncan Hines has noticed the success that we’ve had with our pareve line of cake mixes, and they want to win back their popularity,” said Mr. Rossi. He believes that Duncan Hines saw “a drop in sales since switching to dairy and probably regretted that decision.” The OU certified Manischewitz is producing the first ever “Ready to Spread Pareve Cake Frosting.” The growing pareve cake mix market recently added yet another newcomer, Brooklyn-based Willmark’s ‘Just Add Water’ Pareve Cake Mixes. Available in convenient 24oz. packaging, these fully prepared, ‘just add water’ mixes, are available in Chocolate Cake, Yellow Cake, White Cake, and Brownie. Willmark has been supplying commercial and retail bakeries all over the USA for over 50 years. Willmark’s dual Kosher certification includes Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Beck of Flatbush, NY and the nationally known Kof-K Kosher Supervision. Retailers say that a growing cadre of younger kosher consumers are using the cake mix products as a way of “doing home quality gourmet baking.”

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish

Kosher Dairy an Opportunity, Experts Tell Seminar

(New York) An impressive group of manufacturers of kosher dairy products heard marketing experts call “kosher dairy” an opportunity. The occasion was a first-ever seminar convened by the Orthodox Union for its dairy certified companies. Menachem Lubinsky, president of LUBICOM Marketing Consulting and editor-in-chief of KosherToday said “dairy companies have an enormous opportunity to take advantage of lifestyle trends that make dairy important in the daily diet.” Lubinsky also noted that dairy companies that help consumer with new ideas for product usage tend to increase sales dramatically. Yaakov Rusinov, who heads the kosher marketing category for Wakefern (ShopRite chain), presented some impressive facts about the chain’s leading role in kosher retailing. He added that while the company’s estimated 250,000 kosher consumers are but a fraction of its overall consumer base, “they represent a significantly higher percentage of dollar sales than their numbers would indicate.” The dairy professionals from throughout North America gathered at OU headquarters on October 26th for a full-day program designed to help them resolve the sometimes conflicting needs of plant production vs. kosher concerns, and thereby expand their kosher market. The audience of the seminar included dairy industry plant managers; directors of quality assurance, production and marketing; and officials with responsibility for a dairy company’s kosher program.

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish

Kosherfest New Product Winner Literally Goes Nuts

(Louisville, KY) by Sarah Cohen... No sooner was the announcement made that Najla’s Gone Nuts has won this year’s best new product at Kosherfest 2006 that the phones at the company were ringing off the hook. Najla Aswad could hardly contain her excitement that the judges in the Best Product Competition picked her blend of nuts for the Best Snack Food and Best In Show categories. Ms. Aswad had discovered the value of coming up with a new kosher product and looks forward to taking advantage of her big win at the upcoming Kosherfest, November 14-15 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The Gone Nuts product is a blend of macadamia nuts, pecans, walnuts and almonds, with a mix of sweet and spicy seasonings. The product contains no butter, oil or trans fat and is pareve, certified by the Orthodox Union(OU). “We named our product ‘Gone Nuts’ because most companies focus on one particular nut. We decided to “go nuts” and focus on four different kinds of nuts,” says Ms. Aswad. Najla is not new to the food business. In fact, her career spans two decades that include catering in Binghamton, NY. It was the catering that gave rise to her first idea, Najla’s Cookies, and now her award-winning Gone Nuts product. The nuts idea came to her after relocating to Louisville, KY when she decided to devote all her attention to her product lines. Her new manufacturing facility is certified kosher by the OU and alternates between the pareve products like the nuts and the dairy products like the Gone Chunky cookies. Ms. Aswad is pleased that she made the move to kosher. “It opened up my whole business to a much broader market,” she says. And with the recognition she received at Kosherfest, that decision looms even larger.

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish

News from Israel

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishay to Visit Kosherfest
(New York) Eliyahu Yishai, Israel’s Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor, will visit Kosherfest on Wednesday, November 15th, the second day of the annual international kosher food show which takes place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The visit by the senior Israeli official brings back memories of the 2003 visit of the then Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, who is today Israel’s Prime Minister. Minister Eliyahu (Eli) Yishai was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor in May 2006. He is also Chairman of the (Sephardi) Shas Party. Minister Yishai has served in the Knesset since 1996. The Deputy Prime Minister will pay particular attention to the large pavilion of Israeli food manufacturers, under the aegis of the Israel Export Institute.

On Again – Off Again Israeli Tourist Industry Seeks Help
(Tel Aviv) Israel’s tourist trade is putting heavy pressure on the government to address what one hotelier called the “on-again off-again” tourist industry in Israel. Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog is asking the government to allocate $150 million over the next three years to market Israel as a tourist destination abroad. "We are working with emergency intentions to help the tourism industry and restore Israel as an attractive tourist destination on the world map," said Herzog. "In order to make this goal a reality, we need to increase our marketing efforts as a long-term policy within the framework of the budget." Within days after the lucrative holidays, many hotels in Israel reverted back to 15% occupancy rate. Hotels in the North, already devastated by the War in Lebanon, could hardly hide their anger that more was not done on their behalf including government subsidies to preserve their infrastructure. The Israel Hotels Association is leading the charge that the government move from a relatively passive involvement to more active intervention, which they mean to indicate that the $10 million government budget on tourism was far from sufficient.

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish

From Here and There... Kosher News

(New York) Vinegar and enzymes are the newest recorded topics, as the Kosher Tidbits radio program of the Orthodox Union’s Kashrut Division adds to its list of presentations intended to explain the finer points of Jewish Kosher law to a worldwide audience. Kosher Tidbits, a comprehensive series of 15-minute broadcasts on a wide variety of topics, can be heard on OU Radio, www.ouradio.org, as well as on oukosher.org.

(New York) In a first-time program, the Orthodox Union will pay tribute to several Rabbinic Coordinators at a Melave Malka of Appreciation and Recognition, on Saturday, December 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Ballroom in Brooklyn. The awards, which will include financial stipends, will be presented to three Rabbinic Coordinators. The event and award are sponsored by the OU’s Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran and his wife Klara in memory of their parents. The tribute marks the first time that a senior professional of the OU has established an award to recognize the excellence of his colleagues. The Safrans have announced a three-year commitment to the award program.

(Pittsburgh) A new Trader Joe's in East Liberty is carrying a full complement of kosher food products, including meats. The store is the latest discount store to add kosher food products to their stores.

(Tel Aviv) McDonalds Israel will post a $4 million profit on nearly $95 million in sales in 2006. The company posted $85 million in sales in 2005. Franchisee Omri Padan said, “We lost nearly $2 million during the war as the branches in the north were closed. We planned to open five branches, but were forced to postpone them. We lost sales in the north for an entire month.” The increase in the company’s sales this year is partly thanks to the opening of ten new branches, including kosher ones. The company will open twelve branches in 2007, including two kosher ones.

(Tel Aviv) A Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court judge fined Super-Sol more than $100,000 on Friday, in a plea bargain in an indictment for overcharging on price controlled items. Three managers were also fined.

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish

New Product Showcase

New Twizzlers Rainbow Twists by Hershey’s ...by Eda Kram
Noshers beware: The Hershey Company has just launched a new Twizzlers in a rainbow of delicious fruity flavors! Each pack contains 6 Twizzlers Twists and the assortment includes 6 fabulous flavors: Strawberry, Orange, Lemonade, Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Grape. As are so many products produced by Hershey’s, the new Twizzlers is certified by the Orthodox Union (OU). For more information and to order these products, call 800-468-1714, or visit: http://www.hersheys.com.

Permission give by koshertoday.com to republish