Kosher chicken wars heat up
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Whole Foods Market says it will launch a line of certified kosher, antibiotic-free chicken in Los Angeles and Orange county stores next week. Sales will begin in time for the Jewish holy day of Rosh Hashanah, which starts at sundown Sept. 18.
Trader Joe’s and some Ralphs and Albertsons also carry kosher poultry, which must be slaughtered according to Jewish law under the supervision of rabbinic authorities.
“Customer demand has really driven our focus in seeking out a line of certified kosher poultry,’ said Theo Weening, global meat buyer for Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc.
And it’s not just observant Jews fueling the chain’s discovery of kosher chicken.
‘There is a growing interest in customers requesting kosher poultry simply because they believe the salting process of the poultry adds to the flavor of the meat. The salting process helps the poultry stay moist much like brining,” Weening said.
Sales of kosher products grew 41% to $12.5 billion in 2008 from 2003, according to market research firm Mintel International in Chicago, driven by a rising number of observant Jews as well as gentiles who perceive the kosher designation as a stamp of quality.
Other new kosher products include a sulfite-free potato pancake mix and high-end wines made from grapes from some of Napa Valley’s most exclusive vineyards. Whole Foods plans to offer the potato pancake mix in time for the Jewish holy days. The wines are sold by other food retailers.
The offerings are part of what ‘Kosher by Design’ cookbook author Susie Fishbein calls a renaissance in kosher foods in America.
The Whole Foods chicken line is provided by Kosher Valley, a new certified kosher brand from Hain Celestial Group, and is certified by Rabbi Yechiel Babad and the Orthodox Union rabbinic organization. The natural and organic foods chain says that Kosher Valley’s antibiotic-free kosher line is among the first of its kind in the United States.
The poultry is hand-salted, inside and out, to remove blood according to Jewish dietary law. Whole Foods said that after salting, each bird is soaked three times in icy water to clean the chicken and remove salt.
Whole Foods said the new kosher chicken line meets its animal welfare standards which require that all poultry offered in its stores comes from animals ‘that are raised on a vegetarian diet with no antibiotics.’
Shoppers will pay a premium for Kosher Valley.
Whole Foods plans to charge $3.99 per pound for a eight-piece cut-up chicken and $8.99 per pound for chicken breast cutlets. Trader Joe’s, which sells the Empire brand, charges $2.99 per pound for the cut-up chicken and $5.99 for the boneless breasts. It also sells an organic chicken breast for $7.99 a pound.
-- Jerry Hirsch