Manischewitz Wants to Move to a Mainstream Aisle

The marketer of kosher foods, Manischewitz, is expanding efforts to reach mainstream shoppers with what the company is calling its first campaign aimed at the general market as well as at consumers who traditionally buy kosher products for religious reasons.

The company is sponsoring a nationwide cook-off to raise awareness of kosher products among a general audience. The multimillion-dollar campaign, now under way, carries the theme "Simply Manischewitz." It includes online advertising, and Web sites ads.

American shoppers spend more than $50 billion a year on kosher foods. Sales have been growing by double-digit percentages each year, compared with little if any growth each year for sales of packaged foods intended for the general market.
And it is estimated that only one of five buyers of kosher foods is the traditional Jewish customer.
Research has found that many non-Jewish consumers perceive kosher foods, made in accordance with centuries-old dietary laws, to be purer and higher in quality than their nonkosher counterparts.