Is it Kosher?

The word kosher has been used to mean legitimate or permissible by people of all faiths for some time. You’ve heard it, right? And many know that the actual meaning refers to Jewish dietary laws. (Though most don’t know those laws.)

I had read recently that vegans and vegetarians were buying up kosher food like wildfire. Note that kosher food can cost up to 100% more than its non-kosher (treyf) counterparts. Because there is a lot of extra labor costs in the oversight of the processing. The appeal is that the food production is supervised so closely that there is virtually no chance that there is meat contamination in the dairy and pareve foods.

But I was fascinated by this article, Kosher in the Mainstream, in the latest issue of Food Processing (please, don’t ask me why I read that!) that discusses lactose-intolerent customers, health aware customers, and even people who think eating kosher makes them more spiritual.

And the growth is huge:

“… the category’s 15-percent annual growth rate and $175 million in 2003 U.S. sales. That year, a survey by Mintel Consumer Intelligence revealed 28 percent of U.S consumers had purchased kosher products. Of that group, 35 percent indicated they did so for “taste” or “flavor,” while only 8 percent reported they kept kosher all year long.”

So the 5,000-some year old practice is finally catching on. That’s some product lifecycle!