Sara Lee Ditches Kosher Meat Amid Supply Crisis

(MoneyWatch)  Sara Lee announced plans to close its kosher meat-processing facility in Chicago by the end of January, 2009, and to discontinue its kosher meat brands, Best's Kosher, Sinai Kosher, Shofar and Wilno. The company has been shedding brands lately to concentrate on its most profitable divisions. "The Kosher meat business is really a smaller, niche business for us, so it's not something that we're going to be able to focus on going forward," spokesman Mike Cummins told Chicago Public Radio.

Some Jewish bloggers are fretting over what this might mean for the availability of kosher meat, which is facing a serious supply crisis. But according to Cummins, Sara Lee's effect should be negligible. "It was a fairly small brand," he told BNET, "and we were a processor. There's not going to be less meat out there; other companies will have the opportunity to buy that meat."

The shortage stems from the legal problems of the country's largest kosher meat supplier, Agriprocessors, Inc. The company has struggled with heavy fines and criminal charges since a May immigration raid on one of its plants. The company halted production at certain plants and filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Meanwhile a Minnesota kosher meat producer had to shut down after a fire, exacerbating the problem. Some observant Jews have gone vegetarian or even turned to slaughtering their own meat.

Empire Kosher Poultry announced today it will increase production by 50 percent, but this will only affect the supply of kosher chicken, not beef.