How Kosher Food Expanded Its Horizons

The world center of the kosher food sector is the United States. While only 2% of Americans are Jewish (7.5 million people), a study by a business news site found that 41% of all packaged food in the US is kosher certified.

What is kosher food?

Explanations for this include the perception that kosher foods are cleaner or healthier. And people desire to ensure that a product does not include potential allergens like shellfish.

They are also a guarantee for vegans. An example is Oreo cookies, which before became kosher in the late 1990s, contained pork fat.

Due to the growing demand in the U.S., the global kosher food market is expected to grow. It will reach nearly $60 billion by 2025, from $ 24 billion in 2017.

Given those vast numbers, it is not surprising that a growing number of food companies worldwide are seeking kosher accreditation.

The health benefits of kosher food

Mr. David, executive director of NYC-based kosher bakery Zomick’s said that demand for kosher food is growing. This is also seen among non-Jewish shoppers. “Kosher food appeals to a more health-conscious consumer,” he noted. “There is like a new generation of kosher. It is different from those basic kosher products that have been there for many years.”

“I think companies start from the assumption that you can’t produce a product somewhere in the world and expect to sell it in the US if it’s not kosher,” says Zomick’s co-owner. “There is a significant market and companies want a part of it”.

Founded back in 1966, this kosher bakery began producing Zomick’s challah bread when very few little, apart from the traditional Jews, even knew what kosher means. Today, Zomick’s challah is available throughout all five boroughs in New York. Nowadays it is regularly bought by people of all ethnicity.

The future of the kosher food market

“I was making kosher food and challah bread for my family and people started contacting me,” he said. “Travelers, in particular, moving around the city, needed kosher food.

“In the beginning, I used to invite them to eat at our house. But as more and more people started to approach, I was in a good position to offer kosher food.”

Zomick’s owner says he is pleased to see that kosher food expanded its horizons beyond classic Jewish foods and “went up in category.” “It is no longer the typical chopped liver and stuffed cabbage,” he adds.