An opportunity for a breakthrough: kosher food products

Hungary is a small country, therefore we only have a chance on the world market of food if we find a market niche. One possible segment for a breakthrough is kosher products, selling safe, top quality food products at a good price. Now that we are trying to breathe life into our foreign trade we need to face several obstacles, e.g. the European Union’s quotas, transportation costs; processing plants also need to be modernised. How can we enter the world market? A possible answer is kosher products. Only in the United States an annual USD 35 million is spent on kosher products. The term ‘kosher’ refers to the product’s good quality: all the ingredients of kosher food products and the method of production are strictly controlled to meet every requirement. Kosher food processing companies guarantee a safe and clean processing method, resulting in the highest quality. Since it is well-known that kosher products are healthier and of better quality, they have a considerable market advantage. Vegetarians also prefer kosher products – and there are many vegetarians now all over the world. What is more, certain consumers highly appreciate the marking ‘non-dairy’ or ‘parve’ on certain products. Those companies that do not produce kosher food products often buy small kosher food companies, for instance in 1993 Sara Lee acquired Bessin Corporation, a leading kosher meat product manufacturer. When in the early 1990s Danone’s kosher Plain Yoghurt was introduced in the USA, the company’s profits improved by USD 2 million in the first nine months.