Friday, March 30, 2012

Getting with the Program

The major supermarket chains in our area already started displaying their Kosher for Passover goods before Purim.  Why did they do so?  Basically because people over the years have been asking them around this time when the Passover products will be there.  The markets are responding to customer requests for earlier display.  And then there is this--the longer they have their displays up, the more goods they will sell, leaving them with less "leftovers" to have to put on sale immediately post Passover. (Note: a lot of those goods were offered on sale in those first few weeks.)

Apparently a lot of people in my area, myself included, don't leave their Pesach shopping to the last few days.  Except for maybe Matza and some candy/cookie items, some of the markets are already cleared out of basic Pesach products, items like canned tuna and spices and potato starch etc..

Sure, the kosher stores are there to take up the slack for those who don't shop early, but here's the thing--you are going to pay for putting off the shopping.  Sure, these stores do have some items on sale sometimes, but the real bargains are not going to be found there.  Gefen kosher for passover tuna was on sale in one of the regular supermarkets for $1 a can--not going to find that now.

Okay, so shopping early can save you money.  I then have this question: why do all the kashruth agencies first make their Kosher for Passover booklets/listings available only after Purim?  Obviously they know way before then what will be Kosher for Passover (and what will not require a special, separate Passover hechsher), since the regular supermarkets already have those products weeks before Pesach.  And it's not just the printed booklets I'm referring to.  The OU, for instance, in answer to my query, said that the online listing would only be up after Purim.  It's way past time for the kashruth agencies to get with the program, and to understand that lots of consumers out there are not waiting until right before the chag to go shopping.  It's actually bad for their business to procrastinate in this way.  Example: I didn't have the booklet info when I went shopping the first time so I picked up those "heimish" brands with a Pesachdik hechsher when they first came into the stores and were on sale.  Yes, other brands under certification would show up in the booklets as being okay for Pesach, but I didn't know to go looking for them, and I'd already shopped by then.  Manufacturers who see that paying for that Pesach hechsher doesn't really get them a whole lot financially are going to be less likely to pay for that hechsher in the future.

In short, the kashruth agencies need to get consumer and business savvy and get their listings out to the public far earlier than they do at present.

9 comments:

Miami Al said...

They are consumer and business savvy, you just misunderstand your relationship with the Kashrut industry.

The clients of the Kashrut industry are:
1. The heimish manufacturers
2. The general manufacturers under supervision

That's who pays them.

The Kosher keeping consumer is NOT the client, he is the product being sold by the OU.

ProfK said...

Al,
Yes, you are correct that it is the manufacturers who are the clients for the kashruth agencies. But part of the "sales pitch" to those manufacturers is that people will buy their products with a Pesach hechsher. Yes, some who shop later will do so. But if the consumer does not know which products have that hechsher, they'll buy what they find rather than going looking for other brands of that product that might also be kosher for passover.

Only a few manufacturers will advertise that they are kosher for Passover. The consumer is supposed to get that information from the kashruth listings of the various supervising agencies, and the manufacturers know that. If the listings go out late then the manufacturers are not getting their money's worth. When they look at sales figures for kosher for passover products, and they didn't sell enough of them to make the profit they wanted, the next year they just might not bother paying for that hechsher.

There are a huge number of products that used to carry a kosher for passover certification in years past that no longer do so, and no, it isn't for the most part because the ingredients changed and they are now chometzdik. The manufacturers didn't get enough bang for their buck and stopped getting the hechsher.

tesyaa said...

There are a huge number of products that used to carry a kosher for passover certification in years past that no longer do so, and no, it isn't for the most part because the ingredients changed and they are now chometzdik. The manufacturers didn't get enough bang for their buck and stopped getting the hechsher.

I'm not sure if it's a huge number, but I'll take your word for it. If so, it's certainly a benefit for the "heimishe" brands that are clearly labeled and obviously Pesachdik. It's likely these brands would lose out if the OU book was published earlier.

no, it isn't for the most part because the ingredients changed and they are now chometzdik.

Agree, but it might not be cost-effective for those manufacturers to clean equipment for a Pesach production run. Starting in the past few years, most Dannon yogurt is no longer kosher for year round use, and this year, the varieties that still have a regular OU are not being produced with an OUP. (Incidentally, yogurts are not an item people buy for Pesach prior to Purim).

Miami Al said...

If they believe that it will warrant increase in sales, they can get (and print) an OU-P on the product. The OU is market segmenting with this policy, the companies paying and utilizing the OU-P get a sales bump pre-Purim, the Heimish brands benefit from this. The companies utilizing the OU (and pamphlet Pesach) aren't promoting the OU-P brand and get to participate in the Purim->Pesach sales bump.

This is NOT incompetence, this is pure market segmentation to give Gefen and other companies a time-limited monopoly on the ability to run these sales... Since Gefen on sale is likely a lesser value than a major company at normal price, Gefen needs (and pays) for this temporary monopoly.

JS said...

I wonder if any of these companies do an analysis to see if having kashrut certification or kosher for pesach certification makes an impact on their bottom line. I imagine for most manufacturers even if kashrut costs are high it's a drop in the bucket of their overall production costs. Even if coke didn't make a single extra dollar on converting their plants to use sugar instead of high frustose corn syrup, it probably adds a penny to the cost of all those bottles - it's probably a rounding error.

In exchange they get community good will and some advertising - from the OU which advertises the product, shul newsletters that advertise kosher for pesach products, and supermarket product placement and advertisements directed at Jewish communities.

Also, if the products are non-perishable (or don't perish quickly) they will eventually sell, especially if the products are generally used year round.

The casualties are products only Jews buy, which they only buy for Pesach, and which exprire quickly. However, these items are likely clearly marked already, so there's little harm.

Shmuel said...

There has been a change in what many rabbanim hold as to what products need a separate hechsher for pesach. Some things that still even last year had the OUP don't have one this year. This year's booklet gave a list of all the types of products that could be bought with just a regular OU. Without the booklet saying this, most people wouldn't have known there was a change and would go looking for a product that did have a hechsher.

leahle said...

There's no practical reason why the booklets and the online listings can't be up sooner. I kept the booklets for the last few years and there is almost zero change in them except for a few products going out and a few coming in. The other material is the same except for a change of dates or time.

All these listings are on a computer. it should take almost no time to make any changes to last years list. Are these places totally without anyone who can type a few words into a computer? I doubt it.

tesyaa said...

This year's booklet gave a list of all the types of products that could be bought with just a regular OU.

FYI, this has been a section in the book for as long as I can remember - 20 years or so.

Shmuel said...

I'm not referring to the white pages/grey pages Tesyaa. There was a separate page towards the front of the book stating that most of the rabbanim that the OU had asked said that the listed products on that page did not need a hechsher for pesach, things like detergents, and cleansers, and plastic bags and wraps, and foil paper and paper towels and a whole bunch like that. Strange thing is that some of the brands of these types of products still had a listing under the regular OUP pages.