KOSHER MEATS FATTEN SALES IN SOME STORES

LIZA B. ZIMMERMAN

Retailers in densely populated urban areas are beefing up the kosher sections of their meat departments, and say they are watching sales grow.

At the same time, however, their more rural counterparts are showing relatively little interest in what is apparently still a less-than mainstream market.

In interviews across the country about the role of kosher products in the meat department, SN found wide disparities between the experience and expectations of retailers in larger and coastal markets, and those in smaller and Midwestern areas.

For Pathmark Stores, Woodbridge, N.J., the kosher meat market "is constantly trending upward," said Larry DiAntonio, Pathmark's meat director.

DiAntonio noted that his sales are increasing every year. He said that many kosher items "are consistent, well presented and offer the kosher customer a good variety."

David Wolff, group vice president of Hughes Family Markets, Irwindale, Calif., agreed with DiAntonio. He noted that his kosher sales have been growing, and cited a 5% annual growth rate for fresh poultry alone.

Joe Jerabek, meat manager at the Neptune ShopRite, in its namesake town in New Jersey, also shared the opinion that the kosher market was taking off very quickly. He said that his own sales were up 5% to 10% over last year.

According to the retailers, one of the reasons for the growth of the kosher market is that interest in kosher meats and poultry has grown beyond the confines of the Jewish community.

ShopRite's Jerabek pointed out that kosher meat now appeals to a wide variety of consumers. Pathmark's DiAntonio confirmed that, in his opinion, "other people are buying it."

Consumers at the kosher meat case these days may be "a combination of Jews, the health-conscious and Muslims that have some of the same dietary concerns," noted Hughes' Wolff.

The perception that kosher meat is cleaner and more natural is another definite selling point that has helped to pump up sales among non-Jews. "I think there is an awareness of the health aspects of kosher products," said Wolff.

And Larry Ritzert, the meat buyer and merchandiser for the Cincinnati-based biggs Hyper Shoppes, agreed that consumers recognize and trust kosher meats to be of higher quality.

As Rabbi Moshe Bernstein, the director of the New York office of Star-K, a kosher certification company, explained the phenomenon, "Kosher is looked on by the general community as a health-conscious, quality product. Consumers feel as if another pair of eyes watching the company can only result in higher quality."

Star-K's Bernstein wagered that many kosher departments are doing more than pleasing the customer: "Supermarket chains are anxious to include kosher products because they are taking off."

Indeed, many retailers said they are offering an extensive and continually expanding selection of kosher meats and poultry.

"We carry everything that's kosher," explained ShopRite's Jerabek. "We have a kosher aisle with fresh and frozen [meat and poultry] that's 60 feet long. We have been carrying [kosher meat and poultry] in this store for over four years and have had a rabbi on staff since day one," he said.

At Pathmark, "We display kosher poultry, ribs, steak, shoulder roast and ground chuck separately from other meat in a display that could have as much as 12 feet of a combination of kosher fresh and frozen," said DiAntonio. He added that the chain has carried "poultry since before 1987, and the beef since August of 1996."

According to Menachem Lubinsky, the president of Integrated Marketing Communications, New York, a firm that does research on the kosher market, the mainstreaming of kosher began in the mid-'80s and has really started to take off in the last five years.

Lubinsky said that IMC's research is based on information provided by supermarket chains, distributors, manufacturers and kosher supervision agencies primarily in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Boston. The research shows that the number of kosher certified products has grown from 18,000 in 1988 to 36,100 in 1996. He did not have separate figures for meat and poultry products.

"Some companies that used to airbrush out the certification are now leaving it in," Lubinsky added, alluding to the growing appeal of kosher certification.

More recent spurts in kosher sales growth are often being laid upon solid foundations in supermarkets that have been carrying kosher foods for years, in order to serve a well-established Jewish clientele.

Houston-based Rice Food Markets -- which operates three banners, Rice Food, Rice Epicurean and Grocery World -- serves such a clientele in one of its Grocery World stores, which up until six months ago had been a Rice Food location.

At that store, "I carry a full line of [kosher] poultry and brisket, short ribs, rib eye, liver, lamb chops and lamb and veal shank," explained Scott Silverman, the vice president of specialty food at the chain. Those kosher options have been part of that particular meat case for 15 to 20 years, he said.

In addition, Silverman said he also has stocked a limited variety of poultry -- chicken breasts and thighs, turkey, Empire cut ups and whole fryers -- at three Epicurean Markets for the past three years.

Wolff told SN that in Hughes' 57 California stores, "We have frozen [kosher meat] in every store, and fresh in 20 stores.

"We have carried kosher lunch meat for 20 years and fresh poultry the last four," he added.

Mollie Stone's Markets, an independent in Palo Alto, Calif., carries "the largest selection of what we are able to obtain in kosher" in an 8-foot, open self-service case, said Dave Bennett, an owner. He said that kosher poultry has been part of his case for 10 years and other meat has been there for about five.

Star-K's Bernstein said that "In the past 30 to 35 years, Jewish consumers have indicated a desire to include in their kosher diet what everyone else is eating." And Jews aren't the only ones buying kosher meat: "There's [also] a substantial market of Muslims and Seventh-Day Adventists who can't eat pork."

The research firm IMC estimates that Jews account for only 28.6% of a 1996 kosher market of seven million buyers -- up from six million in 1994 -- which also includes Muslims and those who believe that "kosher is better."

Not all the retailers with large kosher sections interviewed by SN agreed with IMC's picture of size and makeup of the marketplace, however.

Mollie Stone's Bennett said that although he had heard a lot of talk about merchandising kosher meats to other groups, "we have found it takes strong Jewish demographics to support a large kosher program."

Rice Epicurean's Silverman estimated that 99% of the people buying kosher are Jewish, because "the price point is just too high." Non-Jews, to whom the perceived health benefits of kosher would appeal, "might buy natural chicken instead," he concluded.

Other retailers reported marketing seasonal kosher sections. Larry Ritzert, the meat buyer and merchandiser for biggs Hyper Shoppes, said that he carries frozen, but not fresh, kosher meats all year long and does special promotions twice a year.

For the Jewish holidays of Passover and Rosh Hashana, three of Ritzert's stores "do kosher fish cutting. The rabbi comes in and oversees the cutting, cleaning and filleting of the fish. We set up a special section for one day on both holidays and do 10 times the normal amount [of business]."

For some other retailers interviewed by SN, the business is not even seasonal. Some said they carried no kosher meats at all.

"We are not in an area that has a kosher clientele," explained Tom Stabler, owner of Stabler's Marketplace in Tempe, Ariz.

Fred Angeli, the owner of Angeli Foods Co., Iron River, Mich., seconded the motion. "There's no major interest in [kosher] in our market We don't have a strong Jewish community." "We used to handle some [kosher] and it didn't sell," said Joe Martin, the meat manager at Baesler's Super Valu, Terre Haute, Ind. The kosher meats "were more expensive and we don't have the right people," he concluded.

Jack Shakoor, the owner of two Jack's IGAs in Dayton and Boonton, N.J., concurred that "It all comes down to price and consumers are going to buy what's cheaper."

Even Mollie Stone's Bennett admitted that "We don't sell a lot of [kosher] meat because it's expensive." He estimated that the meat can cost 30% to 60% more than nonkosher and the poultry can run 20% more. "We carry it as a service to our customers and we budget it into the cost of advertising," Bennett said.

Silverman's estimates of the cost differential of kosher were even higher than Bennett's: He wagered that "kosher costs twice as much."

Star-K's Bernstein said higher costs for retailers at the kosher meat case are a factor. "There's a higher price for retailers with meat and poultry because -- [unlike] with regular commercial products like Coors beer -- there's a great deal of hands-on work."

ShopRite's Jerabek, however, offered a different point of view on kosher price points. He called the prices reasonable, and also said that "it's a fallacy that they cost more. It's like buying chuck or sirloin."

Rice Epicurean's Silverman said that his kosher sales were about even at all four stores where kosher meat selections are available. "There's a little bit less red meat being sold than before and poultry has picked up," he explained.

Silverman looks at kosher as a marketing edge in the one Grocery World store where there's a 12 to 16-foot long kosher case. It is "a way to compete in a neighborhood where there is a large Jewish community," he said. "We made a conscious decision to get into ...Kosher allows you to keep your customers. I think it's almost expected of us."

To reach the traditionally kosher customer, many retailers said they advertise their kosher sections through Jewish newspapers as well by more conventional means.

Ritzert of biggs, for example said that "we take out ads in the local papers for the Jewish holidays through the rabbi."

Hughes' kosher meat and poultry is promoted in Jewish newspapers, through signs and in-store promotions, said Wolff.

Silverman said that Rice advertises through its circular, local Jewish papers and word of mouth. In addition they sometimes do price promotions.

DiAntonio said he puts ads in Pathmark's store circular and in in-store handouts.

Mollie Stone's Bennett, however, said that although he does put meat ads in the circular, "we don't advertise [kosher] meat because we can't get it consistently enough."

Bennett also lamented the limited variety of cuts available and noted that Mollie Stone's sells "what we get, which can be less than 25% of what we request."

The lack of consistency -- compounded by what he called "not a customer friendly or service-oriented" attitude from his kosher suppliers -- is one of the reasons that he doesn't believe that the kosher market is expanding. In addition, he said, "There's a lack of population growth in this area because it's already built up."

IGA's Shakoor agreed that, for him, kosher sales are stagnant. "I don't see the [kosher market] increasing. It could go down a couple percent over a few years. It's not as important to the new Jewish generation."

Pathmark's DiAntonio disagreed with these assessments, and labeling kosher a market that "is without a doubt expanding." He predicted a rosy future. "It's a category that continues to grow and down the road I [only] see it getting better."

Hughes' Wolff concurred that for his stores, kosher offers "an opportunity for growth."

And ShopRite's Jerabek also said he sees the kosher market in a positive light. "Years ago [kosher] was limited to items from Empire (a kosher poultry supplier) and now you have a lot of companies," he explained. "Variety is making the [kosher market] grow."