Tuesday, March 01, 2016

An educated kosher consumer is our best customer

Seasons supermarket is now open

Season's Management & Kosher certifier;

Don't become educated from your own mistakes,

(Learn from your competitors mistakes).













Dear Rabbis,
We found serious issues in the kashrus standards, labeling, products, consumer confidence, etc.
We sent the following to another supermarket that recently opened in Lakewood and we received no response from them.  We feel that you can gain the required confidence by implementing the following;
 
Dear Rabbis, Store managers; et al,
To gain consumer confidence and prevent errors, embarrassment, etc. The hashgochas should be strictly on the repackaging end of it. That it to say, the hashgochas should decide what hashgocha I do accept or don't accept, as it's usually not because of kashrus but more a political decision. It's also that false sense of power I don't accept this and  I do accept that.
Why is that false and unfair to the customer and the supermarket, you were never at the manufacturing facility nor have enough information to make an intelligent decision, etc. But it gives you that sense of power, on someone else's back.
If you just certify the repackaging as being done under proper tightly controlled hashgocha, then you list on the label the brand name, the brand's hashgocha and the educated consumer will make his own decision.
In the butcher department, every brand is processed on meticulously cleaned equipment, you can carry every brand without any reflection on you hashgocha (as your hashgocha is strictly on the packaging).
Evergreen, KRM, etc I understand do it that way. Otherwise, (we observed the store for about 4 weeks now) we think it may be time to change hashgochas.
BTW- Don't be misled that Lakewood doesn't care about kashrus, yoshon, etc., perhaps the hashgochas et al don't.
You can continue in misleading, making fatal errors, etc. or wake up and smell the coffee.
Not always is adverse publicity better than no publicity.
Yehuda Shain
Kosher Consumers, Union, Inc.

Mind you, there shall be no cholov akum=treif products in the entire store.
Igres Moshe states that today in the USA there is no cholov stam / akum IT'S ALL CHOLOV TREIF! (due to the veterinary procedures on cows)