Despite the absence of several long-time exhibitors, Kosherfest ’19 was a smashing success. For those who doubted that there was anything new, more than 100 new exhibits with some 300 new foods and wines proved them wrong. And for those who wondered if there were new faces visiting the show, almost 20% or 1000 of the 6000 trade visitors were first-timers.
What irked me were two Israeli long-time exhibitors who exhibited bad behavior. One was a major producer of sweets who was forced to cancel when it was discovered that he was producing his sweets in an uncertified (not inspected by rabbis) plant and thus lost his certification. The other was a fairly large Israeli multi-national manufacturer who set up shop in a nearby hotel rather than exhibit in the show. Amazingly, speaking about “biting the hand that feeds” are those two exhibitors and those who fail to display loyalty to an industry they live off by not showing up. So much for bad behavior. For 350 others who exhibited there was only good.
