J O A N N A T H A N

B^B^H^^end a salami to a boy in the army." The World * ^ B ^ ^ ^ W a r II ad is still there in N e w York's famed Katz's

^^^Bl Delicatessen, where for the past 99 years they've ^ B ^ ^ been grinding the trimmings off brisket or prime cuts;

adding paprika, garlic, pepper and cloves; and hanging the end product—salami—to dry in the restaurant.

Today the homespun advertising of Katz's is a thing of the past. Another "war" is raging, this time among the nation's top salami producers. You can see it in the full-page, $33,500 ads in The New York Times. Reputations are on the line for companies besieged by kashrut scandals and embattled in marketing wars.

T h e prize is the $200 million salami lovers spend each year noshing on kosher salami. According to the N e w York State Department of Agr i cu l ture and Markets , a p p r o x i m a t e l y one mi l l i on p e o p l e intentionally select kosher products in N e w York daily. Hebrew National owns the lion's share of the market, about 80 percent. Second in size to Hebrew National is Best Kosher Sausage Company of Chicago, with Shofar Kosher Foods, Inc. of Newark, N e w Jersey, and Bronx-based Mogen David (selling under the brand of Mogen David, Zion, American Kosher, Judea and Isaac Gellis) following.

Twenty-year-old Shofar claims that its ad campaign, begun last year in competition with National Foods, Inc., makers of Hebrew National, increased its share of the market by 21 percent to about S35 million. (The company will not disclose, however, what their market share was before the campaign started or what it is now.) The ad campaign emphasized the low-fat, low-moisture content of Shofar's salami.

Contrasting their product with Hebrew National's, Leonard Posnock, president of Shofar, says, ' 'Hebrew National is a very fine company, but there are cracks in the wall. Their salami is not as good as it used to be. It has a different texture, taste and color. When they moved to Indianapolis, they had to change the consistency of the meat emulsion, which means more moisture in their product today." Hebrew National moved its operations from its Queens, N e w York, plant to Indianapolis in the summer of 1986.

Isidore 'Skip' Pines, president of Hebrew National and grandson of the founder of the 82-year-old company, said the charges were ridiculous.

" T h e water system is the same in Indianapolis as in Queens. Shofar is just clouding the issue."

46 M O M E N T • M A R C H 1 9 8 8

The balance of water and meat is not the only bone of contention in this war. With a cholesterol-conscious public, fat content has entered the picture as a marketing factor. Says Pines, "Shofar's product is much fattier than ours. W e haven't changed our formulation of spices and flavoring. Our product today is just considerably less fatty."

' 'Shofar, week in and week out, runs 50 percent to 80 percent more fat than our product," asserted J im Dixon, Hebrew National Foods' vice president of marketing. ' 'We have solid facts that show there is a very significant difference between theirs and ours. For the past year we have been looking on a weekly basis for the salt, fat, and sugar contents, calories and moisture level and a variety of other profiling characteristics in our salami," Dixon continued. " W e found that consistently all the claims we made held up. Our product is lower in fat than 95 percent of people's body-fat content," he said, echoing the theme of Hebrew National's new advertising campaign.

The battle heated up last spring, when Hebrew National announced in full-page newspaper ads that its 83 percent fat-free salami had 34 percent less fat than Mogen David's salami, 24 percent less than Shofar's and 8 percent less than Best Kosher's. Hebrew National also staged an ad contest, seeking the best idea to advertise its new 83 percent fat-free salami. The winner would walk away with $83,000 in prize money.

While Best Kosher and Mogen David decided to sit back and wait it out, Shofar retorted in a full-page ad: "Have you been wondering why Hebrew National needs a good advertising idea?" Shofar then explained that its low-fat, completely kosher salami was taking business away from Hebrew National. "Over the past few weeks Hebrew National has been offering people tons of cash for an advertising idea to sell their salami. If you've wondered why—let us enlighten you. More and more people have been buying our Shofar Kosher salami: 21 percent more . . . . As for Hebrew National—we're happy to give them a great idea—absolutely free." Shofar's advice to Hebrew National: Make a better salami.

In July the first results were in from Hebrew National's ' 'brilliant idea" contest. T h e results made good copy for The Wall Street Journal and Cable News Network. T h e 12,500 entries included such diverse ideas as a wild-looking man juggl ing a buzzing chain saw while trying to knife a salami, a midwestern woman who enters a N e w York deli and dares to order a salami on white bread with mayonnaise, a cartoon

M A R C H 1 9 8 8 a M O M E N T 47

of dancing cows wearing kippot and a radio jingle sung by a man with a heavy Yiddish accent.

The Wall Street Journal sent a reporter to Quisisana, a small resort on Lake Kezar in Central Lovell, Maine, to watch five Hebrew National contest judges pick the best of 1,200 entries in a six-day judging grind. O n October 21, 1987, the company announced the winner of the competition—Lisa Levy, a 31-year-old art director at a N e w York advertising agency. T h e ad pictures a young, slim, sexy woman lifting weights. Across her bottom runs the slogan, "There's more fat on her than on our salami."

After an article appeared in The New York Times on the competition between Hebrew National and Shofar, the 2nd Avenue Deli jumped into the ad war with an appeal to N e w York delicatessen fans. " W e answer to the real deli authority . . . you!" the full-page Times ad proclaimed. ' 'When we were shopping for salami good enough to carry the 2nd Avenue Deli name we tasted Shofar, Hebrew National, 999, Zion, and other big brands but we found that bigger isn't necessarily better. W e chose Empire National Kosher Provisions, run by Brooklyn's Weinberg family (master kosher sausage makers for three generations), to craft our salami," it continued. "So visit the 2nd Avenue Deli, and savor the best kosher delicatessen . . . on earth."

' 'Hebrew National congratulated m e on this ad," said Abe Lebewohl, owner of the 2nd Avenue Deli. "They said it was in good taste, even though I knocked their s logans." Lebewohl said he was also congratulated by a representative of Shofar.

This, however, was little-league sparring compared to the furor that erupted when, on May 8, 1987, a letter was sent by the

legal offices of the N e w York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to Hebrew National, informing them that two years earlier, on June 19, 1985, government inspectors (employees of the Kosher Enforcement Uni t of the Department of Agriculture and Markets) at the company's Queens plant had discovered "in a stainless-steel tank approximately 100 pieces of boneless meat soaking in hot water thereby rendering the meat non-kosher."

The department decreed that Hebrew National could "settle this matter by payment of 839,000 within ten days" of receipt of the letter, or face possibly heavier fines from the N e w York state attorney general's office.

Hebrew National executives, outraged by what they felt were "malicious" contentions, acted swiftly. O n June 12, 1987, another full-page ad in The New York Times countered that Rabbi Schulem Rubin, head of the Kosher Enforcement Unit , was the source of false information.

"Shame on you, Schulem Rubin ," began the open letter to the salami-eating public from company president Pines.

T h e most serious countercharge by Hebrew National was that the original June 1985 inspection report had been altered. In the report's section regarding compliance with kashrut regulations, the original mark had been crossed out in the "in compliance" box and a new mark was placed in the box signifying "out of compliance." Company representatives also claimed that they were not informed at the time of the apparent violation—and first learned of the charges through newspaper accounts two years later.

SHAME ON YOU, SCMUMRUBM'

An open letter to Schulem Rubin, of the Kosher Enforcement Unit

of the NewYork State Department of Agriculture and Markets From Isidore "Skip" Pines, President,

Hebrew National Kosher Foods

BEEN WONDEPINft

w we real ** authority

YOU!

BSE-

Clockwise from top left Hebrew National announces its $83,000 ad contest; Shofar's response to Hebrew National's campaign, which provoked further rounds of media sparring between the salami producers; the 2nd Avenue Deli's attempt to cash in on the salami wars; Hebrew National's winning ad copy.

Left Hebrew National's New York Times ad blasting allegations of illegal kashrut procedures.

T h e ad further questioned Rabbi Rubin's two-year delay in releasing the information, claiming that his actions were "unethical and violate[d] [his] obligations to the State of N e w York."

For years Hebrew National's aggressive television advertising campaign had featured Uncle Sam explaining that Hebrew National had to "answer to a higher authority" than the U.S . government. Still using this slogan, the Times ad disputed Rabbi Rubin's allegation:

As your own inspectors attested, there was no wrongdoing on our part . . . Hebrew National has always, and will always continue to adhere strictly to the laws of kashrut—not just the minimal com­pliance that is policed by your inspectors. For us this is a sacred trust that goes back 81 years.

' 'We hear [excuses] like bureaucracy and paperwork. But customary procedure is to impound meat that is not meeting kosher standards," said J i m Dixon, marketing vice president at Hebrew National. "By waiting two years, [the Kosher Enforcement Unit ] did a major disservice to the people who are relying on them to monitor and insure the integrity of the products that are marked as kosher."

"It seems to me," Dixon said, " if you are responsible for the integrity of the production process, you deal with it as quickly as possible so that the product in question can be stopped from getting out [on the market]. And you deal directly with the people producing the product so that they can take corrective action if in fact you believe they've done something wrong."

"I think that we were slower than we should have been," said Gerald Moore, spokesman for the N e w York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, when asked about the two-year time lapse. "But our position has been and is that while we were slow, that doesn't change the facts that we are alleging, which is that a violation occurred."

Moore also explained the sequence of events that led to the alteration of the June 1985 inspection report: "During the course of an inspection at the Hebrew National plant, our inspectors reported that they found meat in water that was quite hot. The form that the inspectors used does not have a category for soaking meat in hot water. And when they filled out the form at the time of the inspection, the boxes that were available for them to check off were checked off as being 'in compliance' because those factors were in compliance. T h e inspector was confused about what he should do regarding the hot water." (For meat to be certified as kosher, several processes must be performed. T h e animal is killed with a swift cut across the neck. Blood is allowed to drain from the animal, after which the hindquarter is removed. T h e organs are then examined for infection. Beef, veal and lamb must be soaked in salt and cold water for one hour to draw out the remaining blood, then rinsed in cold water. Finally, certain veins must be removed.)

Moore said that the inspector also wrote a report "which described what they had found, and when he got back to his office and consulted with his superiors, the superior pointed out to him that [Hebrew National] was not in compliance, and so he crossed out the 'in compliance' box and checked the 'out of compliance' box."

But this explanation does not satisfy Hebrew National. Dixon suggested that "somehow one of our competitors is involved in this."

In late June, Hebrew National filed suit against N e w York's Department of Agriculture and Markets, claiming that Hebrew National

M A R C H 1 9 8 8 I M O M E N T 49

Smaller Salami Warriors Taste, SmeH Better moment m a g a z i n e sponsored a salami tasting in t h e W a s h i n g t o n D.C, area w i t h local mavens sampling s e v e n dif ferent salamis available in local super­markets. T h e s e v e n tasters w e r e Representat ive S a n d e r L e v i n (D-Mich>, politi­cal c o m m e n t a t o r B e n W a t t e n b e r g restaurateur D u k e Zeibertj Israeli journalist Hirsh G o o d m a n ; J a n e t C a m m , maitre a" at L e Pavilion; restaurateur J a s o n Walin, o w n e r of Mrs. Simpson's, 2 0 9 1/2 a n d t h e Foggy Bottom Cafe; moment art director Robert Sugar; a n d C a t h y Sulzberger, board m e m b e r of Chanterel le Caterers. J u d g i n g for taste, texture a n d a r o m a , both H e b r e w National a n d S h o f a r c a m e out s o m e w h e r e in t h e m i d d l e T h e overall favor i te w a s Zion; w i t h European Kosher's h a r d salami, m a d e by a small Balt imore manufacturer , second; Isaac Gellis c a m e in third. However , E u r o p e a n beat Zion in t h e flavor/ texture/aroma rankings because Zion received both high a n d low scores, whi le European K o s h e r Hard's scores w e r e m o r e consistently high. Both Zion a n d Isaac Gellis a r e m a n u f a c t u r e d by M o g e n David.

Seventy-f ive-year-old D u k e Zeibert dismissed all t h e salamis except E u r o p e a n Kosher. "None h a v e t h e tastes of m y chi ldhood salamis," Zeibert complained.

W a t t e n b e r g concurred. "None of these h a v e the a r o m a of m y childhood. W i t h this s o d i u m nitrite, t h e y all taste like genti le salami."

Levin, w h o w a s h e d d o w n his salami w i t h celery tonic, said, "I h a v e t o h a v e Vernor's w i t h mine. N o n e of these taste like t h e salamis of Detroit"

All tasters felt that t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r s had toned d o w n t h e garlicky, spicy tastes t h a t t h e y associate w i t h good salami. Several a g r e e d that good salami requires first-class h a r d rye a n d m u s t a r d to g o w i t h i t

T a s t e test w i n n e r Zion is the top-of-the-line label m a d e by Mogen David. T h e Carnegie Delicatessen a n d Zabar's in N e w Y o r k sell Z ion salami privately labeled for t h e m , as does the S e n a t e dining r o o m in Washington.

How the salamis were rated Each taster ranked the seven salamis for flavor, texture and aroma. A taster's first choice received 7 points; second choice, 6 points; and so on down to 1 point for seventh choice. When a brand was not ranked, it received a token 2 points. The charts show cumulative totals.

For the "overall ratings," each of the seven tasters was asked to choose a favorite and least favorite salami. One taster said that two brands tied for first place, and two tasters did not name their least favorite.

F lavor

Points 40

30

20

10

0

T e x t u r e Points

40

30

20

10

0

Overall ratings

Number _ of votes

Favorite salami

i r i i Zion Isaac Best Hebrew

Gellis National

European Hard

Least favorite salami European (Davidowrtz)

Points 40

30

20

10

50 M O M E N T * M A R C H 1 9 8 8

0

Duke Zeibert, owner of the Washington, D.C, restaurant bearing his name, samples seven different makes of salami, each sample labeled with a letter from A to G to hide the brand name. Zeibert, the host of the affair and one of seven tasters, was asked to write his reaction to each brand.

w a s not i n v i o l a t i o n o f kashrut s t a n d a r d s a n d t h a t t h e d e p a r t m e n t ' s

a c t i o n s w e r e " i m p r o p e r . " T h i s c a s e is n o w b e f o r e a N e w Y o r k c o u r t .

A c c o r d i n g t o H e b r e w N a t i o n a l ' s l a w y e r , t h e c o m p a n y m a y s e e k

d a m a g e s f r o m t h e s t a t e .

T h e K o s h e r A d v i s o r y B o a r d , a g r o u p o f r a b b i n i c a l s c h o l a r s a n d

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e N e w Y o r k J e w i s h c o m m u n i t y w h o a r e e x p e r t s

i n t h e l a w s o f kashrut, b a c k e d t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f A g r i c u l t u r e a n d

M a r k e t s , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e d e p a r t m e n t ' s c o m m i s s i o n e r , D o n a l d B u t c h e r .

" D u r i n g a r e g u l a r m e e t i n g w i t h t h e K o s h e r A d v i s o r y B o a r d i n N e w

Y o r k C i t y , t h e b o a r d u n a n i m o u s l y s u p p o r t e d o u r c o n t e n t i o n t h a t

p l a c i n g m e a t in h o t w a t e r p r i o r t o i t s s a l t i n g a n d d e - v e i n i n g r e n d e r s

it n o n - k o s h e r , f o r e v e r , " B u t c h e r s a i d .

T h r o u g h o u t t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e k o s h e r m e a t b u s i n e s s i n A m e r i c a ,

t h e r e h a v e b e e n i n f r a c t i o n s a n d s c a n d a l s .

" K o s h e r m e a t is m o r e e x p e n s i v e t h a n n o n - k o s h e r m e a t , " M o o r e

e x p l a i n e d . " T h e r e ' s a n e c o n o m i c m o t i v a t i o n if y o u c a n g e t a w a y w i t h

s u b s t i t u t i n g n o n - k o s h e r m e a t . "

I n 1 9 8 6 , t h e K o s h e r E n f o r c e m e n t U n i t c o n d u c t e d 1 0 , 3 6 9

i n v e s t i g a t i o n s a n d i n s p e c t i o n s in k o s h e r e s t a b l i s h m e n t s . T h e y i s s u e d

1 4 9 v i o l a t i o n s a n d 1 4 9 0 w a r n i n g s t o t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n s p e c t e d . Y e t

p e n a l t i e s for t h e e n t i r e y e a r w e r e o n l y $ 1 4 , 0 0 0 .

" A v i o l a t i o n m i g h t b e m i s l a b e l i n g , " M o o r e e x p l a i n e d , " s o t h a t if

w e f o u n d n o n - k o s h e r b e e f h a n g i n g i n t h e s a m e l o c k e r w i t h k o s h e r

b e e f i n a k o s h e r - o n l y e s t a b l i s h m e n t , w e w o u l d p r o b a b l y s i eze t h e n o n -

k o s h e r m e a t a n d assess a p e n a l t y . "

F i n e s m a y r u n a s l i t t l e a s $ 3 0 fo r a n e s t a b l i s h m e n t i n w h i c h k o s h e r

a n d n o n - k o s h e r p a c k a g e d f r a n k f u r t e r s a r e f o u n d i n t h e s a m e

r e f r i g e r a t i o n c o n t a i n e r .

On e of t h e i r o n i e s o f t h e s i t u a t i o n is t h a t fo r y e a r s H e b r e w N a t i o n a l ' s

" W e a n s w e r t o a h i g h e r a u t h o r i t y " p i t c h h a s c a p t i v a t e d t h e

i m a g i n a t i o n a n d t h e d o l l a r s o f n o n - J e w i s h A m e r i c a n s a s w e l l a s J e w s .

A s u b s t a n t i a l a m o u n t o f a l l k o s h e r - l a b e l p r o c e s s e d m e a t p r o d u c t s is

b o u g h t i n t o d a y ' s m a r k e t b y n o n - J e w s w h o h a v e d e v e l o p e d a t a s t e

fo r " k o s h e r " m e a t p r o d u c t s a s o t h e r s h a v e for F r e n c h o r I t a l i a n o r

C h i n e s e p r o d u c t s .

T o s o m e , k o s h e r m e a n s a t a s t e o f g a r l i c . ( I n f a c t , t h r o u g h o u t h i s t o r y ,

g a r l i c a n d kashrut h a v e b e e n a s s o c i a t e d . I n G e r m a n y , J e w s w e r e c a l l e d

" t h e g a r l i c e a t e r s . " I n d e e d , t h e Shulchan Aruch, a c o d e o f J e w i s h l a w

t h a t d a t e s b a c k t o t h e 1 6 t h c e n t u r y , e n c o u r a g e s J e w s t o e a t a l i t t l e

b i t o f g a r l i c o n F r i d a y n i g h t . )

T h i s n e w , n o n - r e l i g i o u s m e a n i n g o f " k o s h e r " is o n e t h i n g t h a t b o t h

P o s n o c k a n d P i n e s a g r e e d o n . " T h e v e r y b i g g e s t p a r t o f o u r b u s i n e s s

is in t h e C h r i s t i a n w o r l d . A n d t h e J e w i s h folk a r e n o t e a t i n g s a l a m i

s i m p l y b e c a u s e it is k o s h e r , " s a i d P o s n o c k .

" K o s h e r h a s t r a n s c e n d e d t h e r e l i g i o u s m e a n i n g , " s a i d P i n e s . " I t ' s

a f l a v o r t o m a n y p e o p l e . F i f ty p e r c e n t o f o u r c u s t o m e r s a r e n o t e v e n

r e l i g i o u s . I t ' s t h e f l a v o r , l i ke k o s h e r p i c k l e s , t h a t a p p e a l s t o t h e m . "

B a r r y B e r g e r , p r e s i d e n t o f M o g e n D a v i d , d i s m i s s e s t h e w a r b e t w e e n

S h o f a r a n d H e b r e w N a t i o n a l a s a l o t o f b a l o n e y . B e r g e r s h o u l d k n o w ;

h i s f a t h e r f o u n d e d M o g e n D a v i d , t h e 5 5 - y e a r - o l d B r o n x - b a s e d c o m p a n y

t h a t m a d e t h e b e s t s a l a m i i n M O M E N T ' S t a s t e t e s t (see b o x a t lef t ) .

C l a i m s s u c h a s " 8 3 p e r c e n t f a t - f r e e " m e a n l i t t l e t o B e r g e r , w h o ins i s t s ,

" S a l a m i is a l e a n p r o d u c t . " '8'

M A R C H 1 9 8 8 . M O M E N T 51