At Kosherfest 2018, the OU Kosher booth proudly displayed a sign stating “30th Edition. Proud Supporter of Kosherfest, all 30 years.” OU Kosher and Kosherfest have been working together since the idea of a Kosher food show was in its infancy. Now, in its 30th year, Kosherfest features dozens of Kosher vendors, both old timers and brand new companies, as well as panels, contests and lots of delicious samples!
The Orthodox Union was pleased to not only have OU Kosher representing at Kosherfest, but Yachad Gifts as well. Yachad Gifts, the creators of gorgeous gift baskets themed toward different milestones, were busy both days explaining the benefits of Yachad having it’s own business where Yachad participants can be employed and, in fact, are experts at creating gorgeous gift baskets. Yachad Gifts even had a business card raffle for a free gift basket!
One of the most unique booths at the show was Coco Jolie, a fine chocolate company new to the Kosher scene that was proudly displaying OU Pareve on its sign. Coco Jolie features chocolates in a variety of unique flavors. However what was initially drawing people to the booth was the gorgeous design of the chocolates themselves. Each chocolate shone as if it were a jewel and people were shocked to find that something that was so gorgeous could also taste so delicious!
It was not an uncommon site to see Kosherfest visitors walking from booth to booth with Popsicle sticks dangling from their mouths. Many of these Popsicle were provided by MomPops, a mother and son operation that sells mini Popsicle that are both delicious and only 15 calories. The Popsicle come in flavors like Strawberry Banana, Chocolate Sea Salt, and Mango. By the end of the first day, the booth had given out all of their Chocolate Sea Salt samples and were running low on the remaining flavors due to their popularity. Trash cans around Kosherfest were full of Popsicle sticks as people kept coming back for more.
A major question at Kosherfest is when to begin eating fleishig, or meat, foods. Because of Halachik prohibitions, once meat has been consumed one must wait to eat dairy. Therefore the meat vendors had to provide something great in order to convince visitors to become “fleishig” or commit to no longer eating dairy at the show. And the meat vendor’s did not disappoint! OU certified company Aaron’s provided Kosher Pepperoni slices for visitors. Abeles and Heyman had deli meat for sampling while Empire had slices of turkey. Jack’s Gourmet was making hot dogs to order, while Meal Mart brought in an actual hot dog truck, complete with The Kosher Guru peddling the hot dogs from within. All of this meant that becoming fleishig was easy to justify.
2018’s edition of Kosherfest was a smashing success. OUKosher is proud to be a longtime supporter of the show and looks forward to 2019 Kosherfest, November 12-13 2019!