c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Call it the Case of the Missing Hot Dog.

For the past 21/2 months, a severe shortage of Hebrew National franks and other kosher meats such as corned beef and salami has plagued delicatessens and supermarkets throughout the nation.

“It’s terrible and it came at the worst possible time _ the holiday season, when there are a lot of parties,” said Ken Lavroff, whose family has owned Deli King in Clark, N.J., for 22 years. “We’re forced to substitute with an inferior product. But people know the difference.”

The shortfall is so extensive that Costco, the discount warehouse club, has switched suppliers for its food courts. And Ben’s Delicatessen, one of the biggest kosher deli chains, with eight eateries in New York and Florida, might start producing its own meats.

The shortage occurred after a recent shift to a different production plant by ConAgra Foods Inc., a $14.5 billion food conglomerate that owns Hebrew National. Julie De Young, a spokeswoman for the Omaha, Neb., company, said regular shipments might not resume for a month or more.

“We’re working very hard to return to full production,” De Young said. “It’s a temporary situation.”

The shortfall is tarnishing one of the oldest and best-known names in ethnic foods, with a product line that generates nearly $200 million in annual sales, according to industry experts.

“This is a big deal for everybody involved,” said Scott Horowitz, who owns Nassau Provision Kosher Foods, a wholesaler on Long Island. “Hebrew National is synonymous with kosher deli. Imagine Boar’s Head not having any ham.”

(FIRST OPTIONAL TRIM BEGINS)

Like some other famous foods that originated with New York’s Jewish community, such as Breakstone butter and Dr. Brown’s sodas, Hebrew National got its start in the rough-and-tumble marketplaces on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Isador Pinckowitz, a butcher from Romania, was peddling meat from a horse-drawn wagon in 1928 when he began making kosher hot dogs in a sixth-floor walk-up apartment, according to the online magazine Kosher Today. He later supplied groceries and built Hebrew National into a well-known ethnic food brand.

(FIRST OPTIONAL TRIM ENDS)

The company gained nationwide fame with a masterful 1965 advertising campaign that played on stringent religious requirements by boasting: “We answer to a higher authority.”

The slogan worked brilliantly, according to Menachem Lubinsky, editor in chief of Kosher Today. The kosher designation took on special meaning and Hebrew National quickly became a symbol of quality for all consumers, not just Jews.

The advertising and the brand name subsequently became a badge of pride for the Jewish community, which saw a growing number of non-Jews clamor for Hebrew National hot dogs, especially at sporting venues such as baseball stadiums.

“It’s really about much more than food,” said Chaim Waxman, a sociology professor at the Bildner Center for Jewish Life at Rutgers University. “Food, you see, is one of the most significant ways to express ethnic heritage. And Hebrew National has a unique niche.”

It’s a growing niche, too.

Since kosher is often associated with higher quality, 82,000 products now carry the designation, according to Lubicom Marketing, a research firm. In fact, most foods marked kosher are everyday staples, such as cereal or canned tuna, rather than traditional Jewish items.

As a result, $8.25 billion worth of kosher goods were sold in 2003 and Lubicom estimates annual growth is 15 percent. The numbers reflect increased purchases not only by Jews, but also by other consumers with dietary or religious strictures.

(SECOND OPTIONAL TRIM BEGINS)

Kosher is a Hebrew word meaning fit or proper. Meat is kosher if slaughtered in accordance with Jewish dietary law and approved by kosher certification organizations or individual rabbis.

Ironically, Hebrew National is no longer held in the highest esteem by many Orthodox Jews, who want a more rigorous certification known as glatt kosher, sort of a super form of kosher. These Jews are partial to lesser-known brands such as Meal Mart Inc. of Maspeth, N.Y.

This schism within the Jewish community accelerated during the past quarter of a century. It occurred at the same time traditional delicatessen meats _ kosher and non-kosher _ lost favor with many diet-conscious consumers.

(SECOND OPTIONAL TRIM ENDS)

ConAgra paid $100 million for Hebrew National in 1993. As a hugely successful purveyor of popular foods, ConAgra gambled it could market Hebrew National to the widest possible audience.

The pairing might seem incongruous.

Among ConAgra’s many brands _ which include Chef Boyardee, Knott’s Berry Farm and Jiffy Pop _ is an array of distinctly non-kosher meats. These include Armour, Slim Jim, Butterball, Cook’s and Big Mama Sausage.

Nonetheless, ConAgra regularly describes Hebrew National as one of its best-selling consumer product lines. The company’s spokeswoman said production was shifted to Michigan from Indiana because of rising demand, especially for kosher hot dogs.

The shortage, however, is forcing long-standing customers into the arms of rivals, who savor the opportunity to take business away from a big player.

“Demand is up,” said Ed Weinberg, who owns Empire National, a kosher hot dog maker in New York that is working hard to fill the void. “Everyone in the industry is seeing the shortages.”

This isn’t the first time ConAgra has run into production snags at Hebrew National. In 1993, the company faced manufacturing compliance problems with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but an agency spokesman said there currently are no such issues.

That is of little comfort to Ken Lavroff, the deli owner in New Jersey.

He says business could return to normal if production resumes soon. But if the shortage persists indefinitely, or shipments remain erratic, he worries the episode will hasten a trend away from deli meats and spell the demise of the kosher deli.

“There are hot dogs,” he said, “and then there’s Hebrew National.”

X X X

WHAT IS KOSHER?

What makes a hot dog kosher, and who wants one:

Kosher is a Hebrew word and means fit or proper.

Meat is kosher depending upon the way the animal is slaughtered.

People eat kosher food for religious reasons or because they want better quality.

Kosher certification is made by organizations, such as Star-K or Orthodox Union, or individual rabbis.

SOURCE: Kosher Today

MO/RB END SILVERMAN

(Ed Silverman is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He can be contacted at esilverman(at)starledger.com.)