Rabbi Uri Topolosky, a member of DC Kosher’s kashrut su- pervision board. “I’m motivated to help out a small busi- ness owner when I know it can be a fully kosher operation.” Thevolunteer-based DC Koshercharges no fees.Though stressing that he does not oppose the work of the major cer- tification organizations, Topolosky wants to provide anoth- er option in order to increase the availability and variety of kosher restaurants. “For some smaller operations, it’s not tenable. They can’t afford to drop another $2,000 to these agencies. It cuts too deeply into their bottom line.” Topolosky stands behind his Orthodox kosher stan- dards, but he does operate differently than other Orthodox certifiers, relying on collaboration with restaurateurs — for example, working with them to standardize their vegeta- ble-washing processes—and casual visits from commu- nity members rather than a clockwork inspection pro- cess. Topolosky doesn’t feel the need for daily checks, and would rather practise this as a trust-based partnership than require constant oversight. “The reality,” he says, “is that we don’t need what has become the standard in the kosher world. It’s become a standard to require a kosher supervi- sor on site all the time. That has not been an easy option for many of these restaurants.” A SM A LL M A RKET & SMALL SELE C TION SOME KOSHER RESTAURATEURS SAY THE LACK OF competition among suppliers—manufacturers and dis- tributors of items like the feta Rachamim was looking for— is one of their biggest challenges. “There is no competition in kashrus in Montreal, in terms of meat,” says Steven Lapidus, a professor at Concor- dia University and an expert in Montreal’s kosher scene. “Most of the kosher beef manufacturers are all owned by the same company.” Mehadrin (which alone distributes 75 percent of Canadian kosher beef) and Shefa effectively have a duopoly on the supply of kosher meat in this country. In addition to the high costs, kosher restaurateurs describe a lack of variety in the goods that are available, but with so few options they must choose from that limited selection and pay when prices rise, which is frequently. “It’s debatable if the market is even big enough for multiple players,” says Manny Azulay, owner of Ely’s Fine Foods in Toronto. “The problem with the kosher guys in Canada is there’s nowhere else to go. It’s not that restaurant A is sourcing chicken from over here and it’s cheaper than restaurant B, who’s sourcing his chicken over there. We’re all buying it from the same guy.” This isn’t true of just meat: there’s enormous concentration across the kosher food sector nationally. COR and MK don’t just provide mashgiach services; they are also the two larg-
est kosher certifiers of packaged food and kosher slaughtered meat in Canada. “It’s a double-edged sword,” says Klein of YeahThatsKosher. “On one hand, the community probably trusts the op- tion that’s there, the COR or the MK. But it becomes an issue for kosher businesses be- cause they’re not really offered an opportuni- ty to shop around. They don’t have options. So whatever the price is, the price is. And that is in turn reflected in the price of kosher goods.” FOR SOME WHO KEEP KOSHER, RELIGIOUS adherence is not a question of fair business prac- tices or affordability. “The restaurant business A M A TT E R O F F A ITH
38 SUMMER 2025
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator