Salami Wars
Nathan, Joan
SALAMI WARS JOAN NATHAN "send a salami to a boy in the army." The World War II ad is still there in New York's famed Katz's Delicatessen, where for the past 99 years they've been grinding the...
...They said it was in good taste, even though I knocked their slogans...
...Another "war" is raging, this time among the nation's top salami producers...
...Indeed, the Shulchan Aruch, a code of Jewish law that dates back to the 16th century, encourages Jews to eat a little bit of garlic on Friday night...
...The company will not disclose, however, what their market share was before the campaign started or what it is now...
...Over the past few weeks Hebrew National has been offering people tons of cash for an advertising idea to sell their salami...
...The Kosher Advisory Board, a group of rabbinical scholars and representatives of the New York Jewish community who are experts in the laws of kashrut, backed the Department of Agriculture and Markets, according to the department's commissioner, Donald Butcher...
...Janet Camm, maitrecfat Le Pavilion...
...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...
...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...
...his father founded Mogen David, the 55-year-old Bronx-based company that made the best salami in MOMENT'S taste test (see box at left...
...When they moved to Indianapolis, they had to change the consistency of the meat emulsion, which means more moisture in their product today...
...Claims such as "83 percent fat-free" mean little to Berger, who insists, "Salami is a lean product...
...Hebrew National executives, outraged by what they felt were "malicious" contentions, acted swiftly...
...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...
...One of the ironies of the situation is that for years Hebrew National's "We answer to a higher authority" pitch has captivated the imagination and the dollars of non-Jewish Americans as well as Jews...
...Isaac Gells came in third...
...Several agreed that good salami requires first-class hard rye and mustard to go with it Taste test winner Zion is the top-of-the-line label made by Mogen David...
...Barry Berger, president of Mogen David, dismisses the war between Shofar and Hebrew National as a lot of baloney...
...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...
...The very biggest part of our business is in the Christian world...
...was not in violation of kashrut standards and that the department's actions were "improper...
...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...
...We have solid facts that show there is a very significant difference between theirs and ours...
...restaurateur Jason Walin, owner of Mrs Simpson's, 209 1/2 and the Foggy Bottom Cafe: moment art director Robert Sugar...
...During a regular meeting with the Kosher Advisory Board in New York City, the board unanimously supported our contention that placing meat in hot water prior to its salting and de-veining renders it non-kosher, forever," Butcher said...
...The form that the inspectors used does not have a category for soaking meat in hot water...
...But customary procedure is to impound meat that is not meeting kosher standards," said Jim Dixon, marketing vice president at Hebrew National...
...The ad campaign emphasized the low-fat, low-moisture content of Shofar's salami...
...The charti show cumulative totals For the "overall ratings* each of the seven tatters was asked to choose a favorite and least favorite salami One tatter taid that two brands tied for first place, and two totters did not name their least favorite...
...The animal is killed with a swift cut across the neck...
...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...
...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...
...On 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...
...The 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 New York...
...You can see it in the full-page, $33,500 ads in The New York Times...
...It's a flavor to many people...
...Hebrew National owns the lion's share of the market, about 80 percent...
...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 New York state attorney general's office...
...on earth...
...Second in size to Hebrew National is Best Kosher Sausage Company of Chicago, with Shofar Kosher Foods, Inc...
...The most serious countercharge by Hebrew National was that the original June 1985 inspection report had been altered...
...Kosher has transcended the religious meaning," said Pines...
...When a brand wit not ranked, it received a token 2 points...
...In 1986, the Kosher Enforcement Unit conducted 10,369 investigations and inspections in kosher establishments...
...For us this is a sacred trust that goes back 81 years...
...and hanging the end product—salami—to dry in the restaurant...
...Shofar, week in and week out, runs 50 percent to 80 percent more fat than our product," asserted Jim Dixon, Hebrew National Foods' vice president of marketing...
...In July the first results were in from Hebrew National's ' 'brilliant idea" contest...
...The World War II ad is still there in New York's famed Katz's Delicatessen, where for the past 99 years they've been grinding the trimmings off brisket or prime cuts...
...It has a different texture, taste and color...
...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...
...And the Jewish folk are not eating salami simply because it is kosher," said Posnock...
...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 New 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 Unit 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...
...A substantial amount of all kosher-label processed meat products is bought in today's market by non-Jews who have developed a taste for "kosher" meat products as others have for French or Italian or Chinese products...
...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...
...Lebewohl said he was also congratulated by a representative of Shofar...
...Seventy-five-year-old Duke Zeibert dismissed all the salamis except European Kosher "None have the tastes of my childhood salamis* Zeibert complained...
...We chose Empire National Kosher Provisions, run by Brooklyn's Weinberg family (master kosher sausage makers for three generations), to craft our salami," it continued...
...Fines may run as little as $30 for an establishment in which kosher and non-kosher packaged frankfurters are found in the same refrigeration container...
...The prize is the $200 million salami lovers spend each year noshing on kosher salami...
...According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, approximately one million people intentionally select kosher products in New York daily...
...The results made good copy for The Wall Street Journal and Cable News Network...
...Hebrew National congratulated me on this ad," said Abe Lebewohl, owner of the 2nd Avenue Deli...
...I think that we were slower than we should have been," said Gerald Moore, spokesman for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, when asked about the two-year time lapse...
...If you've wondered why—let us enlighten you...
...The water system is the same in Indianapolis as in Queens...
...Both Zion and Isaac Getlis are manufactured by Mogen David...
...But this explanation does not satisfy Hebrew National...
...None of these taste like the salamis of Detroit" All tasters felt that the manufacturers had toned down the garlicky, spicy tastes that they associate with good salami...
...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 $35 million...
...To some, kosher means a taste of garlic...
...Wattenberg concurred "None of these have the aroma of my childhood...
...More and more people have been buying our Shofar Kosher salami: 21 percent more...
...We answer to the real deli authority . . . you...
...Blood is allowed to drain from the animal, after which the hindquarter is removed...
...This new, non-religious meaning of "kosher" is one thing that both Posnock and Pines agreed on...
...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...
...Shofar is just clouding the issue...
...the full-page Times ad proclaimed...
...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...
...The overall favorite was Zion...
...Kosher meat is more expensive than non-kosher meat," Moore explained...
...A violation might be mislabeling," Moore explained, "so that if we found non-kosher beef hanging in the same locker with kosher beef in a kosher-only establishment, we would probably sieze the non-kosher meat and assess a penalty...
...Yet penalties for the entire year were only $14,000...
...For meat to be certified as kosher, several processes must be performed...
...In Germany, Jews were called "the garlic eaters...
...The inspector was confused about what he should do regarding the hot water...
...The organs are then examined for infection...
...Shame on you, Schulem Rubin," began the open letter to the salami-eating public from company president Pines...
...of Newark, New Jersey, and Bronx-based Mogen David (selling under the brand of Mogen David, Zion, American Kosher, Judea and Isaac Gellis) following...
...and Cathy Sulzberger, board member of Chanterelle Caterers Judging for taste texture and aroma, both Hebrew National and Shofar came out somewhere in the middle...
...8...
...Our product today is just considerably less fatty...
...Says Pines, "Shofar's product is much fattier than ours...
...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...
...In late June, Hebrew National filed suit against New York's Department of Agriculture and Markets, claiming that Hebrew National Smaller Salami Warriors Taste, Smell Better moment magazine sponsored a salami tasting in the Washington DC area with local mavens sampling seven different salamts available in local supermarkets The seven tasters were Representative Sander Levin (D-Micru political commentator Ben Wattenberg restaurateur Duke Zeibert Israeli journalist Hirsh Goodman...
...We hear [excuses] like bureaucracy and paperwork...
...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 New York delicatessen fans...
...Berger should know...
...Hebrew National moved its operations from its Queens, New York, plant to Indianapolis in the summer of 1986...
...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...
...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...
...Throughout the history of the kosher meat business in America, there have been infractions and scandals...
...As for Hebrew National—we're happy to give them a great idea—absolutely free...
...On October 21, 1987, the company announced the winner of the competition—Lisa Levy, a 31-year-old art director at a New York advertising agency...
...Dixon suggested that "somehow one of our competitors is involved in this...
...The winner would walk away with $83,000 in prize money...
...Shofar then explained that its low-fat, completely kosher salami was taking business away from Hebrew National...
...There's an economic motivation if you can get away with substituting non-kosher meat...
...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...
...In fact, throughout history, garlic and kashrut have been associated...
...Mow the salamis were rated Each Inter ranked the seven salamis for flavor, texture and aroma A taster's lirst choice received 7 point* second choice, 6 point* and to on down to 1 point for teventh choice...
...Hebrew National also staged an ad contest, seeking the best idea to advertise its new 83 percent fat-free 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...
...Isidore 'Skip' Pines, president of Hebrew National and grandson of the founder of the 82-year-old company, said the charges were ridiculous...
...with European Kosher's hard salami, made by a small Baltimore manufacturer, second...
...It's the flavor, like kosher pickles, that appeals to them...
...Across her bottom runs the slogan, "There's more fat on her than on our salami...
...Shofar's advice to Hebrew National: Make a better salami...
...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...
...However, European beat Zion in the flavor/ texturearoma rankings because Zion received both high and low scores, while European Kosher Hard's scores were more consistently high...
...adding paprika, garlic, pepper and cloves...
...They issued 149 violations and 1490 warnings to the organizations inspected...
...Finally, certain veins must be removed...
...government...
...Their salami is not as good as it used to be...
...The Carnegie Delicatessen and Zabars in New York sell Zion salami privately labeled for them, as does the Senate dining room in Washington...
...The 12,500 entries included such diverse ideas as a wild-looking man juggling a buzzing chain saw while trying to knife a salami, a midwestern woman who enters a New York deli and dares to order a salami on white bread with mayonnaise, a cartoon of dancing cows wearing kippot and a radio jingle sung by a man with a heavy Yiddish accent...
...We haven't changed our formulation of spices and flavoring...
...The balance of water and meat is not the only bone of contention in this war...
...Reputations are on the line for companies besieged by kashrut scandals and embattled in marketing wars...
...So visit the 2nd Avenue Deli, and savor the best kosher delicatessen...
...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...
...Fifty percent of our customers are not even religious...
...According to Hebrew National's lawyer, the company may seek damages from the state...
...With this sodium nitrite they all taste like gentile salami" Levin, who washed down his salami with celery tonic, said, 'I have to have Vernor's with mine...
...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...
...With a cholesterol-conscious public, fat content has entered the picture as a marketing factor...
...Today the homespun advertising of Katz's is a thing of the past...
...The ad pictures a young, slim, sexy woman lifting weights...
...This case is now before a New York court...
...We found that consistently all the claims we made held up...
Vol. 13 • March 1988 • No. 1
