Sixth Sense
What I Learned at Kosherfest
By Menachem Lubinsky... As the founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, I get to speak to several hundred people over the course of the two days of the show, which this year drew record crowds. The advice I receive from many people about the show and the industry as a whole is often contradictory. A good example was the difference of opinion on whether the Sunday-Monday format was better than the Tuesday-Wednesday days of the show. But after the show had ended, I took stock of what I really learned during the two days. I found out, for example, that despite the hype and success of kosher that there are still many struggling entrepreneurs who somehow are having a hard time cashing in on the hype. One owner of a company flatly told me that even putting together the costs of doing the show was difficult for him. I discovered that while the bellwethers like Kedem are innovative in bringing many new products to market, some entrepreneurs have great ideas that never see the light of day. One young man from Israel with an interesting gluten-free item preferred to wing it by himself rather than hook up with a larger company. While some of the buyers complimented the range of new products and suggested that they would add some of them to their shelves, others weren't quite sure if they should free up the space at the expense of proven sellers. Many of the businesses at Kosherfest were desperately in need of capital infusion, though not all would in the end succeed. One company looking for capital was anxious to buy automated equipment instead of his antiquated machinery, yet he seemed very thin in management and virtually non-existent when it came to marketing. I saw many people who were trying to sell to exhibitors, things like media, graphics, websites, equipment, packaging, trucking and more. But in reality the exhibitors were largely not paying attention. It was too busy a show and they simply did not want to miss an opportunity to do what they came for, to do business. It was interesting to see how many people were actually selling in the aisles, not a good idea in a crowded show like Kosherfest. What they really should do is consider exhibiting next year. Finally, I was simply overwhelmed by the number of people looking to get into kosher with one idea or another. They enthusiastically spoke of how their idea will absolutely solve a problem in kosher. The real problem, however, is that once Kosherfest is over only a handful will prevail. All in all, the show was a major success, and for those well-known exhibitors who stayed away this year, loosing a year of opportunity is no small loss!