Is there a growing sense of interest in good quality kosher meat?
Jose: Absolutely. I see the suppliers are getting better and better – they are stepping up to the plate more than they used to. In the beginning it was a disaster. We used to send back half of the order sometimes because they would send you terrible things. There was no quality control. Now, it is rarer and rarer for us to send something back. They are sending much better quality meats – bigger animals, better marbleized animals. Some suppliers now try to sell only specialized and good quality meat. I think there was once a mentality from the suppliers that thought, “Well the kosher market is going to eat kosher no matter what – they don’t eat anything else, so why bother? They don’t have a choice.” That has changed. Meat that looks you right in the rib eyeAre people willing to pay for better quality meat? Jose: I don’t know much about the market from before when I started this business about 14 years ago. But back then, people were paying more money for kosher meat without the quality
