New York – Nation’s Supermarkets Put More Emphasis on Shavuos With Variety Of Cheesecake

New York – Sam Ellenberg is not religious but this year will be buying a cheesecake for Shavuos (eve of May 28 – May 30) in a Los Angeles supermarket. He plans to attend Yizkor services in his Conservative synagogue but the cheesecake is what his mother used to bake in their Washington Heights home. Although it is not as widely observed as either Passover or Rosh Hashanah, a growing number of Jews are observing the holiday and buying the traditional dairy foods. The Jewel-Osco web site is promoting Shavuos recipes as are so many other stores and organizations. In fact, Yaakov Yarmove of SuperValu is promoting his Shavuos dairy foods on-line and in his ads. Many chains and independents run ads for Shavuos with a potpourri of fish, cheese, and other items like pirogen and blintzes. In recent years, say distributors, there has been a great deal of emphasis on upscale cheeses. At the Pomegranate upscale supermarket in Brooklyn, cheeses will be one of a number of dairy categories to be highlighted in ads and other promotions. “Shavuos is a bit tricky,” said one retailer. “Most people eat only one dairy meal, which means that we still have to promote the usual Shabbos and Yom Tov fare.”

Kosher industry experts say that in the past year many new frozen items were added, from blintzes to pizza, but a big seller is the growing selection of gourmet cheese. Los Angeles based Anderson International Foods is one of the companies promoting some of the new kosher cheeses. In a recent interview French born Brigitte Mizrahi said: “Historically, kosher consumers are not big cheese eaters. We are trying to do the same thing the kosher wine industry did. We are trying to educate consumers that not everything has to taste like muenster cheese.” Retailers throughout the country report a sharp increase in the demand for kosher cheese prompting such retailers as Trader Joe’s to stock the fare. They expect to sell an unprecedented amount of kosher cheese for Shavuos.

Some retail stores and web sites selling the cheesecake are predicting an increase in sales of some 15% – 20%. “I wish I knew the answer as to why cheesecake has become the primary Shavuos food!” said Jane Moritz, owner of the Challah Connection & Kosher Gift Box. “Personally, I prefer blintzes and noodle pudding and think that they are more in line with ‘Jewish’ culture. But perhaps cheesecake has emerged as the dominant food since it is more mainstream American and there are many folks who prefer this.” Moritz runs a Connecticut-based online gift company, specializing in kosher items for Jewish holidays and events. Kosher Gift Box doesn’t make its own baked goods, but rather purchases products from the finest kosher bakeries and ships them to customers nationwide. Although in a typical week it sells less than 10 cheesecakes, Kosher Gift Box expects to sell between 60 and 80 of them in the next two weeks, with the bulk of orders coming in the week prior to the holiday. The Kosher Gift Box offers cheesecake in the following flavors: plain (most popular), marble, turtle, strawberry, chocolate liqueur marble and sugar free plain; all are OU certified.

Some stores sell as many as 300-400 cheesecakes in just a 48-hour period before Shavuos. The Continental Kosher Bakery in Los Angeles offers a unique twist on the standard cheesecake—no dairy! The parve bakery employs six full time bakers and serves the San Fernando Valley. It makes tofutti cream cheese coffee cakes and pies special for Shavuos, when it sells several hundred. A representative from the bakery pointed out that their parve delicacies “enable kosher consumers who are lactose intolerant to celebrate Shavuos just as other Jews do.” Now, even an allergy to dairy can’t keep one from observing the holiday in true form. Ann Feurer, a diabetic from Long Island, generally stays away from all pastries with the exception of Shavuos. “I have not missed cheesecake for most of the 48 years I have been on this earth.”