Ogdensburg, NY – City Moves to Evict Ahava Kosher Food Company

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    Ogdensburg, NY – The owner of kosher food operations in Ogdensburg will be evicted by the city for failure to pay rent and utilities.

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    Ahava of California LLC, Venice, Calif., reportedly owes the city $90,000 in back rent and $618,138 in delinquent utility payments, according to a four-page complaint filed Friday.

    “They haven’t paid a penny to us,” City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said Friday. “They have been beleaguered and continue to be beleaguered with outstanding creditors. We couldn’t simply let this continue anymore.”

    The Ogdensburg plant employs about 60 full-time workers, company officials said last year.

    Ahava filed for bankruptcy protection last year, but a federal judge recently dismissed their petition.
    Ahava hasn’t paid its $15,000-a-month rent since August. Mr. Sciorra said Ahava’s lawyers told him this week they won’t contest the lease termination.
    “We hope we can find a new owner to run the plant,” Mr. Sciorra said.

    New York City attorney Stephen Wagner, representing Ahava, didn’t return a call for comment, and no one answered calls at the plant Friday. The plant’s Web site, has been shut down.

    The city acquired the Main Street building and property in late July for delinquent property taxes. Previous owner St. Lawrence Food Corp. didn’t pay the 2006 tax bill on the property, totaling $89,000, city officials said.

    St. Lawrence Food, owned by Moise A. Banayan, leased the kosher food operations in Ogdensburg and Lowville to Ahava in 2007. The lease for Ogdensburg was signed Oct. 30, 2007, while Lowville’s was signed Aug. 29, 2007.

    Moise Banayan has had no ownership interest in Ahava since his brother, Fariborz Banayan, bought out Moise Banayan’s 50 percent share in Ahava in August 2005.
    Moise Banayan filed for federal bankruptcy protection in April.

    Ahava, doing business as North Country Manufacturing and Ahava National Food Distributor, filed paperwork in July with U.S. Bankruptcy Court Central District of California. In the bankruptcy filing, the company listed its assets and liabilities each at $1 million to $10 million and said it had more than 200 creditors.

    Earlier this month, a federal judge overseeing the Ahava bankruptcy dismissed the action because the company’s secured creditors argued an auction to sell the company’s assets wouldn’t yield enough of a return to satisfy outstanding debts.


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    24 Comments
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    Monsey man
    Monsey man
    15 years ago

    This is a shame. Ahava was the company that forced a huge drop in Chalav Yisrael prices years ago when they came to the market. M Banyan’s heart is in the right place and we can only wish him well and hatzlacha. Machshava tova k’maaseh dami.

    Monsey man
    Monsey man
    15 years ago

    …and before people start making comments like “he should still pay his bills etc.” you need to understand how much credit and for how long Ahava extended to mosdos. Summer camps would not pay Ahava for an entire year. Yeshivas and Bais Yaakovs pushed for lower and lower prices and “donations.” MB’s biggest fault may be that his heart was too tender.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    so if there are camps, yeshivos etc. owing Ahava shouldn’t they be paying their outstanding bills rather than let Ahava take this on alone? If MB did extend credit to various mosdos, where is the hanhalla of these institutions and how have they let this happen? The whole situation can turn into a real chilul H-shem, but if corrected in time, it could be a tremendous kiddush H-shem.

    Family member
    Family member
    15 years ago

    Oy thats terrible now milk prices will skyrocket w no competition he had a golden heart always believing hshem will help no matter what if schools chederim or stores failed to pay and left him w\o money he had his own plant not like others that rent from goyim and kasher it he wanted the best posible hechsher that cant be garanteed by kashering and that is a major expensive expence mashgichim year round i was there

    Emes
    Emes
    15 years ago

    What I am hearing here is that everyone he dealt with cheated him out payment for milk and cheese? Where is the Bes Din Tzedek to resolve these issues? How could Rosh Yeshivas and Hanhalas cheat a Yid out of his honest Invoices? Could this really be? How? This needs to be settled in Bes Din immediately. Any more Hillul D’ and I will begin to lose faith in what is happening in this Kehillah.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    What a shame. Another person with his heart in the right place is under such pressure. Another thing to note is that Ahava’s quality was of a much higher standard. Being a slightly professional cook, there are certain things that could only be made with Ahava Ricotta Cheese because it was the only chalav yisroel one that was truly made from a decent amount of cream instead of other ingredients that lower the quality and taste of this product. It was the only quality that stood up to non Chalav Yisroel quality. I have this from many a picky Chalav Yisroel cook. I am sure this producting had to cost him more money to produce, but he kept his quality high and prices low. As noted before, the competition also lowered the Chalav Yisroel prices all around.

    Ironic, a man is trying to give Chalav Yisroel consumers solid quality instead of skimping, and the consumer’s i.e. mosdos owe him money and I’m sure plenty of others owe too, due to the economic crisis. Alas, all of kosher consumers who appreciated this higher level of product and lower price will have to rely on other brands that don’t begin to compete in quallity. I have heard that the Banayan family is an exemplary and fine upstanding member to the frum community. They have been known to be baalei chesed and baalei tzedaka who live a very low profile tzniyusdieke life. We should have all erliche yidden in these financial crisis in our tefilos.

    frozen snake
    frozen snake
    15 years ago

    no good deed goes unpunished

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    If he was producing real quality cholov yisroel products a) he would not have had this problem. The gov caught them many times selling questionable products based on health and quality issues and they were fined.

    In addition you can not sell below market costs and stay in businees so long unless you are money laundering or this was a front for another business.

    And yes there were many kashruth issues that many in the industry were aware and would not accept any ahava products in their stores.

    Going cheap does not insure the kashruth level nor the quality of the products. On the contrary its a door leading to unethical business practices effecting all aspects.kashruth, quality of product and business ethics as we now see the results. This is a chilul hashem. What are the non jews saying about their business practices.

    Its easy to be a great baal tzedaka and also give cheap prices. But that can only be if you pay your bills and obligations to your vendores, treat and pay your employess respectfully….

    What happen about the honest jew doong business and can be trusted?

    I know there are many still out there.

    If you are paying more its because it costs more. And maybe then you can know your are eating real cholov yisroel ethical produced quality cheese.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    just one more reason to thank my ancestors for arriving on these shores long before there were frum dairy companies.

    By the time cholov yisreol arrived here we had been using USDA milk for three generations and haven’t stopped yet.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    in response to ANON #11 Do you have some bone to pick with Mr. Banayan? YOU are the ONLY person to have negative comments against him. He IS a TRUE BAAL CHESED (from what I have heard) so keep your negativity out of this issue. He needs everyone’s support “Kol Yisrael, araiviim haim”

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    As a family member i can say that he never enjoyed the money he made-it got pumped right into the business. stores never paid on time and he did x have the heart to ever fire a worker no mater how bad he or she was and the kashrus mashgichim nowadays are very corupt al they want is $ thats why the other companies that claim their hechsher is the best just give more $ to mashgichim x 2 give ahava their hechsher get what i mean? (#11)and dont accuse until u are in his situation!