Who\u2019s Who<\/em>. Celebrated chefs and talk show hosts, as well as a myriad of manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, buyers, caterers, retail stores, and media personnel participate every year. They all have their eyes out for the newest product, recipe and, like me, that special story, one that uncovers something never seen or heard before. Unbeknownst to me, I was about to land one.<\/p>\nI stopped to say hello to my old friend Stephen Leibowitz, affectionately known as \u201cChief Pickle Maven\u201d of the world famous Guss\u2019 Pickles. Amid the pungent smell of half-sour pickles, Stephen informed me that he has participated in every Kosherfest since the first, and that Guss\u2019 Pickles has been certified by the OU for 55 years. He also filled me in on the behind Guss\u2019 Pickles\u2019 rise to fame.<\/p>\n
Back in 1920, Isidor (Izzy) Guss, an enterprising immigrant from Russia, decided to treat the American public to a steady flow of perfectly pickled pickles. He opened his storefront on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and aptly named it \u201cGuss\u2019 Pickles.\u201d The business took off quickly, attracting and creating thousands of pickle lovers. Then Stephen let me in on a trade secret.<\/p>\n
Stephen\u2019s grandfather, Max Leibowitz, who immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1897, owned a pickle manufacturing facility in Milford, Delaware. He was the pickle-supplier behind Guss\u2019s popular pickles. Guss insisted on keeping the arrangement top-secret. So much so, he had Max deliver the pickles in the wee hours of the morning \u2013 in an unmarked truck.<\/p>\n
By the 1960\u2019s, Stephen\u2019s father, David, sought OU Kosher certification, realizing its significant value to Leibowitz\u2019s Pickle Facility.<\/p>\n
Stephen and his son Andrew went on to co-own United Pickle Products Company in the Bronx. They made certain to obtain OU certification for their new facility. United Pickle Products is currently the largest and oldest family-owned pickle wholesaler on the East Coast.<\/p>\n
Sadly, in 1975, Izzy Guss passed away. His store was sold to Harry and Tim Baker. Leibowitz\u2019s facility continued to supply their classic pickles to Guss\u2019 Pickles, which moved to the Battery Park area of Manhattan. Unfortunately, after the 9\/11 attack, the Baker family suffered serious financial loss. The mounting debt to their pickle suppliers prompted them to agree signing over the \u201cGuss\u2019 Pickles Trademark\u201d to the Leibowitz family.<\/p>\n
An appropriate ending to the story. After all, unbeknownst to the world of pickle aficionados, it was the Leibowitz\u2019s tasty pickles that made \u201cGuss\u2019 Pickles\u201d famous in the first place.<\/p>\n
Apparently, there will always be a place in the fridge for Guss\u2019 kosher pickles. According to Stephen, like fine wine, \u201cthe pickle complements every meal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Truth is, behind every OU Kosher product waits a story to be told. It\u2019s all about people working together to bring a dream to life.<\/p>\n
Phyllis Koegel serves as the Marketing Director of OU Kosher based in New York City<\/em>. Phyllis received her MBA from Pace University and resides in Woodmere, NY.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 28 years, I have never missed a Kosherfest. I still get the same feeling of excited anticipation as I walk the aisles in search of the latest kosher products. This year\u2019s search led to a discovery of a long-held trade secret. Here\u2019s the scoop\u2026but keep it under wraps. I entered the Meadowlands Exposition Center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-btus","tag-winter-2016","search-terms-winter-2016"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed - Behind the Union Symbol<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed - Behind the Union Symbol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 28 years, I have never missed a Kosherfest. I still get the same feeling of excited anticipation as I walk the aisles in search of the latest kosher products. This year\u2019s search led to a discovery of a long-held trade secret. Here\u2019s the scoop\u2026but keep it under wraps. I entered the Meadowlands Exposition Center […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Behind the Union Symbol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-30T19:25:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-28T19:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Phyllis Koegel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Phyllis Koegel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/\",\"name\":\"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed - Behind the Union Symbol\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-30T19:25:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-28T19:40:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/bfc8884321e42b2a5efa60593875f25c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/\",\"name\":\"Behind the Union Symbol\",\"description\":\"\\\\\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/product-search\/#s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/bfc8884321e42b2a5efa60593875f25c\",\"name\":\"Phyllis Koegel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cfcdb58d852d1d2417a0cb7ae4abb842661e317ff14699f103169b222004629?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cfcdb58d852d1d2417a0cb7ae4abb842661e317ff14699f103169b222004629?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Phyllis Koegel\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/author\/phyllis-koegel\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed - Behind the Union Symbol","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed - Behind the Union Symbol","og_description":"In 28 years, I have never missed a Kosherfest. I still get the same feeling of excited anticipation as I walk the aisles in search of the latest kosher products. This year\u2019s search led to a discovery of a long-held trade secret. Here\u2019s the scoop\u2026but keep it under wraps. I entered the Meadowlands Exposition Center […]","og_url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/","og_site_name":"Behind the Union Symbol","article_published_time":"2017-01-30T19:25:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-28T19:40:55+00:00","author":"Phyllis Koegel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Phyllis Koegel","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/","url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/","name":"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed - Behind the Union Symbol","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-30T19:25:11+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-28T19:40:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/bfc8884321e42b2a5efa60593875f25c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/2017\/01\/30\/kosherfest-2016-kosher-trade-secret-revealed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kosherfest 2016: Kosher Trade Secret Revealed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/","name":"Behind the Union Symbol","description":"\\","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/product-search\/#s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/bfc8884321e42b2a5efa60593875f25c","name":"Phyllis Koegel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cfcdb58d852d1d2417a0cb7ae4abb842661e317ff14699f103169b222004629?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cfcdb58d852d1d2417a0cb7ae4abb842661e317ff14699f103169b222004629?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Phyllis Koegel"},"url":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/author\/phyllis-koegel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1179,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oukosher.org\/btus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}