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Exhibitors came to Kosherfest from Israel, Italy, Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Polandand Connecticut!

Connecticut residents representing various facets of the kosher food industry were among the thousands in attendance at Kosherfest. Some were serving food or passing out samples at booths; others were wandering the long aisles, tasting various foods, reading literature and speaking with company representatives and owners about product ingredients, unit prices and shipping costs.

Phil Weinberger, owner (with his wife, Jill) of Westville Kosher Bakery and Deli in New Haven, has been coming to Kosherfest for most of the past 12 or so years. He says, “You go to look for things to complement your business.” Weinberger attends to look for products and ideas that he can try in his store. This year, he met three companies which carry such products as Israeli salads, pickles and stuffed artichoke hearts which he will be bringing to Westville Kosher.

Bruce Hessing, mashgiach and assistant chef of the new UConn Kosher Kitchen, noted that he had been to trade shows in other industries (i.e. medical supplies)but never one where you could try all the products. Hessing enjoyed seeing the latest trends in the kosher food industry and was pleasantly surprised to see the volume of desserts and candies on display. The trip from Storrs to the Javits Center proved relevant to his workhe made useful contacts with an Oriental noodle company (which he had previously known only via the internet) and with Mezonos Maven, a company specializing in breads and cakes made with flours not subject to the Hamotzi blessing.

Madison resident and business owner John Teplansky greeted visitors interested in Caruther’s Mojave Gold Flame Raisins on the vine, listed in the Kosherfest directory as being in the “new and unusual” product category. The raisins are naturally dried on the vine “for optimum sweetness, succulence, and size. They are superior to a regular sun-dried raisin in taste, sweetness and plumpness.” In addition to being tasty and healthy, Teplansky noted the usefulness of his product for garnishing cheese platters for wine and cheese parties.

Asian Menu Sauces (http://www.asianmenusauces.com), with corporate offices in Stamford, is a 10-year-old company specializing in Asian sauces and dressings including sesame garlic sauce, orange ginger sauce, wasabi dressing, ginger dressing and General Tsao’s sauce.

Ken Liu, president of Asian Menu Sauces, is an example of a non-Jewish business owner for whom “going kosher” makes good business sense. He tells the story of attending trade shows for four years. People always stopped to ask if his sauces were kosher. After conducting research, Liu reports that he learned (what Jews know anecdotally) that Jews are “one of the largest (represented) groups of customers of Chinese restaurants.” He realized that there was a market for kosher Chinese sauces and began creating sauces under OU supervision six years ago.

Bigelow Tea (R.C. Bigelow Inc., http://www.bigelowtea.com), based in Fairfield, has been a family owned producer of teas for 60 years. This year, Bigelow’s new vanilla caramel tea was the winner of the Kosherfest 2003 best new beverage item. According to Chris Costello, “The trend is moving from 100 count boxes of regular tea towards smaller boxes of specialty teas.”

Costello notes that Bigelow has changed the logo and packaging of its newer specialty teas, in part to appeal to younger (potential) tea drinkers. The average age for the largest group of tea drinkers is the 45-65 year old set. (Some of Bigelow’s newer flavored teas are dairy.)

Also showcased was Dr. Lankin’s Specialty Foods (profiled in the Jewish Ledger, Sept. 26). The Groton-based company displayed “Awesome Almonds,” packaged in three flavors — orange-vanilla, cinnamon-vanilla and cocoa java.

Kosher restaurants are still scarce in Connecticut, though one can drop by the UConn campus in Storrs and visit the Kosher Kitchen.

On Wednesday nights, the Avon Old Farms Inn in Avon offers kosher a la carte dinner (from 5:30-8pm). Edge of the Woods in New Havens offers healthy dining as part of its well-stocked package store. And the Young Israel of New Haven offers pizza night every other Saturday night. Claire’s in New Haven is a favorite dining out spot for vegetarians and those who keep kosher.