Empire Kosher

Last updated
Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary Brand
IndustryFood distribution
Founded1938
FounderJoseph N. Katz
Headquarters Mifflintown, Pennsylvania
Key people
Rabbi Israel Weiss, VP for Rabbinic Affairs
ProductsChicken, Turkey, other prepared foods
OwnerAterian Investment Partners
Number of employees
750
Website empirekosher.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. is the largest producer of kosher poultry in the United States. [2] The company's headquarters, hatchery, and processing facility are located in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania.

Contents

History

Early years

Empire Kosher was founded in 1938 in Liberty, New York, by Joseph N. Katz, an Austrian-Jewish immigrant to the United States. The Katz family, including Joseph's son Murray, owned and ran the business for the first five decades of operation. [3] [4]

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Katz family recruited the rabbis required for the kosher production process from Mandatory Palestine as well as Jewish communities in Europe, and the company initially operated out of a garage in Liberty, New York. (The company's name comes from the nickname for New York State. [5] ) In the 1950s, Empire became known as an innovator in kosher food production. [6]

Relocation and expansion

Early in the 1960s, while still owned by the Katz family, the company relocated to Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, approximately 40 miles outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where it is still headquartered today. Katz purchased a processing plant in Mifflintown, and expanded production in order to meet the demand provided by the growing Jewish middle class. [6] Empire became the first kosher food company to move into mainstream supermarket distribution. [3]

Competition and debt

In 1986, a fire destroyed the production line at the Mifflintown plant, and the Katz family invested nearly $20 million to rebuild and modernize the plant. [6] In 1992, Empire was sold to private equity firm Apollo Management, and several years later sold to another private equity firm, J.W. Childs Associates, and the company carried a high debt burden. [3]

Investment and growth

In 2003, Empire was purchased by a consortium of private investors led by Greg Rosenbaum. The company modernized and expanded its plant and production line, more than doubling production capacity by 2009. [7] Empire currently processes 240,000 chickens and 27,000 turkeys per week, with annual revenue over $100 million, making it the largest U.S. producer of kosher poultry. [2]

Empire's workforce is unionized, and are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776. [3] Under its current ownership, Empire has donated kosher food to community food pantries. [8] [9] In 2011, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty granted Empire's CEO its Humanitarian Award. [10] In addition, Empire has received positive press coverage regarding its animal welfare and environmental standards. [2] [11]

In 2010, Empire acquired the Kosher Valley brand from natural and organic foods producer Hain Celestial Group. [12] In March 2015, Hain Celestial Group announced the acquisition of the remaining approximately 80% that it did not already own of EK Holdings, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. for a purchase price of $57.6 million, which included net debt that was repaid at closing. [13] Empire was purchased from Hain by Aterian Investment Partners in 2019. [14]

Production and distribution

Hatching and growing

Empire states that it hatches its own poultry eggs at an on-site hatchery in Mifflintown, and that all of its chickens and turkeys are grown on small family farms within a 90-mile radius of the Mifflintown plant. [2]

Empire claims that its quality control inspectors are "five times stricter than USDA inspectors", and says that its poultry also adheres to the following standards:

In addition, Empire offers a line of Organic products. The company recently launched a "Green Kosher" marketing campaign. [16]

Kashrut and processing

A team of 65 rabbis oversee the kosher slaughter process in Mifflintown. [17] The rabbis live in on-site dormitories during the week, and the plant has its own mikvah and shul. Empire poultry is raised, slaughtered and processed in accordance with the rules of kashrut, and is certified by the Orthodox Union and Rabbi Yechiel Babad, Tartikov Rav. Until recently, KAJ from Washington Heights NY, have been one of the main Kosher supervisors on most Empire Products. KAJ pulled its Rabbinic supervision after it was not guaranteed that with the inclusion of another Rabbinic supervision its strict Kosher protocols will be met . As part of the kosher production process, salt is used to cleanse blood from the animal. A result of this is that kosher poultry is preferred by some non-kosher consumers for the alleged "juiciness" provided by this brining. [18] Cook's Illustrated regularly recommends Empire Kosher chickens and turkeys in part due to this distinctive taste. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

Kashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the term that in Sephardi or Modern Hebrew is pronounced kashér, meaning "fit". Food that may not be consumed, however, is deemed treif, also spelled treyf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mashgiach</span> Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment

A mashgiach or mashgicha is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouses, food manufacturers, hotels, caterers, nursing homes, restaurants, butchers, groceries, or cooperatives. Mashgichim usually work as on-site supervisors and inspectors, representing a kosher certification agency or a local rabbi, who actually makes the policy decisions for what is or is not acceptably kosher. Sometimes certifying rabbis act as their own mashgichim; such is the case in many small communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schmaltz</span> Rendered chicken or goose fat

Schmaltz is rendered (clarified) chicken or goose fat. It is an integral part of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, where it has been used for centuries in a wide array of dishes, such as chicken soup, latkes, matzah brei, chopped liver, matzah balls, fried chicken, and many others, as a cooking fat, spread, or flavor enhancer.

Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of kashrut. The laws of kashrut apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish meeting specific criteria; the flesh of any animals that do not meet these criteria is forbidden by the dietary laws. Furthermore, kosher mammals and birds must be slaughtered according to a process known as shechita and their blood may never be consumed and must be removed from the meat by a process of salting and soaking in water for the meat to be permissible for use. All plant-based products, including fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs and spices, are intrinsically kosher, although certain produce grown in the Land of Israel is subjected to other requirements, such as tithing, before it may be consumed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orthodox Union</span> Orthodox Jewish organization in the US

The Orthodox Union is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for the disabled, localized religious study programs, and international units with locations in Israel and formerly in Ukraine. The OU maintains a kosher certification service, whose circled-U hechsher symbol, U+24CACIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U, is found on the labels of many kosher commercial and consumer food products.

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References

  1. Elstein, Aaron (2 April 2020). "Leading kosher chicken provider closes ahead of Passover". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Heilman, Uriel, "Inside Empire’s slaughterhouse: The life of a kosher chicken", Jewish Telegraphic Agency , August 11, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Popper, Nathaniel, "Empire Strikes Back", The Forward , August 12, 2009.
  4. The New York Times, "Weddings: Faith T. Mervis, Alan L. Katz", The New York Times , June 9, 1996.
  5. Empire Kosher, "History" Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine , Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc.
  6. 1 2 3 Kosher Eye, "Empire Kosher Poultry: Ruling the Roost", Kosher Eye, November 2010.
  7. Failed Messiah, "Empire Doubles Production", Failed Messiah, July 3, 2009.
  8. NY1 News, "City Pantries to Receive 25 tons of poultry" Archived 2012-09-29 at the Wayback Machine , Feb. 6, 2009.
  9. New York City Government, "News from the Blue Room" Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine .
  10. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "Empire Kosher Chief recognized for food donations" Archived 2012-09-27 at the Wayback Machine , April 11, 2011.
  11. Pine, Dan, "Hazon speaker trying to push 'kosher' to the next level", Jweekly.com, August 11, 2011.
  12. PR Newswire, "Hain Pure Protein Corporation Closes on Sale of Kosher Valley Brand to Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc." PR Newswire, May 17, 2010.
  13. "Hain Celestial Announces Accretive Strategic Acquisition of Empire Kosher Foods - the Business Journals". Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  14. Danley, Sam (2 July 2019). "Hain Celestial Group completes Pure Protein sale". Food Business News. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  15. Empire Kosher, "Top Quality" Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine , Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc.
  16. Geller, Jamie, "Empire Kosher is now Green Kosher", Joy of Kosher, August 11, 2011.
  17. Lacter, Mark, "What goes into an Empire kosher chicken?", LA Biz Observed, August 4, 2011.
  18. Severson, Kim, "For Some, 'Kosher' Equals Pure", New York Times, Jan. 12, 2010.
  19. Cook's Illustrated, "2010 Buying Guide for Supermarket Ingredients", Cook's Illustrated, 2010.

Further reading