11/15/12 — Well it’s Erev (the eve of) Kosherfest and as usual I am doing quite a few interviews with press from all over the world about the state of kosher. One reporter asked whether I was still excited about Kosherfest after 23 years. “You bet,” I answered, and went on to explain that I found every Kosherfest to offer something unique and special. I also “kvell” at the continued growth of the industry, which was a shadow of what it is today when I first launched Kosherfest.
I can understand if the average visitor does not quite pick up these nuances, although I suspect that most do. For example, I can remember shows that simply had an incredible array of new product items that were never before kosher, whether it be beef jerk or Jelly Belly’s. There were shows where wines you would never expect to have a kosher symbol were on display. Then there were years that you could actually see the internationalization of kosher, perhaps like this year when Argentina and the Philippines will have major pavilions or years when such countries as Poland and Russia joined the international showcase.
