Manischewitz facts for kids
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| Privately held company | |
| Industry | Kosher Foods |
| Founded | Cincinnati, Ohio (1888) |
| Founder | Dov Behr Manischewitz |
| Headquarters |
80 Avenue K, Newark, New Jersey
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United States
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Area served
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Nationwide |
| Products |
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| Owner | Kayco Kosher & Beyond - Bayonne, NJ |
Manischewitz is a famous brand of kosher products. It started in 1888 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company is best known for its matzo (a type of flatbread) and kosher wine.
Manischewitz became a public company in 1923. It stayed under family control until 1991. Later, in 2014, a company called Sankaty Advisors bought it. Manischewitz is the world's largest maker of matzo. It is also one of America's biggest kosher brands. Plus, it was the first American company to export matzo.
Contents
History of Manischewitz
Before the mid-1800s, making matzo was a challenge. Matzo dough must be mixed and baked very quickly. This stops the dough from rising. So, matzo was often baked in special ovens. These ovens were usually found in synagogues.
Later, small bakeries used special machines. But matzo was still not easy for everyone to get. It was often too expensive for many families.
Founding the Company
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Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz started the B. Manischewitz Company, LLC. This was in 1888 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rabbi Manischewitz created a special machine. This machine could cut and bake matzo. It made the matzo easy to package and ship. This new method made matzo cheaper to produce. So, more Jewish families in the US could buy it.
The company became public in 1923. By 1926, it was known as the largest matzo baker in the world. It was also the first American company to export matzo.
Growth and Changes
In the 1930s, Manischewitz created Tam-Tam crackers. These are small, hexagonal matzos. They allowed the company to make products all year. The original square matzo changed how matzo was made. Before, people rolled and trimmed matzo by hand. Making matzo by machine was a big step forward.
In 1932, the company built a second factory. This was in Jersey City, New Jersey. This new location helped serve the large Jewish community. Many Jewish people lived in the New York metropolitan area. The Cincinnati factory closed in 1958.
In 1998, Richard A. Bernstein bought the company. In 2004, its name changed to R.A.B. Food Group, LLC. Today, it is known as The Manischewitz Company. From 2007 to 2014, a company called Harbinger Capital owned Manischewitz.
Manischewitz is still the world's top matzo maker. It is also one of America's leading kosher brands. In 2011, a new large facility opened in Newark, New Jersey. This building served as both a factory and the company's main office.
Manischewitz Food Products
Manischewitz's main new idea was making matzos with machines. This caused some discussion at first. Some rabbis thought matzo had to be made by a person. They believed it could not be made by a machine for religious use. Manischewitz showed that their machines followed all religious rules. This helped them overcome these concerns. During the Passover holiday, the company can make over 851,000 matzos every day!
Manischewitz also bought Horowitz-Margareten Matzo. They also make Goodman matzo and macaroons. Besides matzo, Manischewitz makes other foods. These include cookies, macaroons, pasta, and soups. Other well-known kosher brands are also part of R.A.B. Food Group. Some of these are Carmel, Elite, Mother's, Rokeach, Mrs. Adler's, and Tradition. Many of these were popular kosher brands before R.A.B. bought them.
It's important to know that R.A.B. Food Group does not make Manischewitz wine. They only let the wine company use the Manischewitz name. The Manischewitz Wine Company is part of E & J Gallo Winery.
Manischewitz Wine
The Manischewitz winery is in Canandaigua, New York. It is owned by E & J Gallo. They continue to use the Manischewitz name. The Star family started this winery in 1927.
The Manischewitz winery is famous for its affordable Concord wine. This wine is very common in North America. It is made from labrusca grapes. A lot of sugar is added to it. Concord wine became known as the kosher wine in the U.S. media. So, it is often used to celebrate Passover.
However, the sweet Concord wine from Manischewitz has corn syrup. Corn syrup comes from corn. Some Ashkenazi Jews do not eat corn products during Passover. Manischewitz makes special Kosher for Passover wines. These wines are sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.
The sweetness of Manischewitz wine is often joked about. But kosher wine does not have to be sweet. There's a reason why sweet kosher wine is so popular in America. Early Jewish settlers in America needed to make kosher wine locally. They needed it for the Kiddush ritual on Shabbat and holidays. They had few grape choices that grew well there. Also, they had little time to make the wine. The market was mostly hard cider. This led to a bitter wine. So, they added sugar to make it taste better.
Because the sweet Manischewitz wine is so well known, many Americans are surprised. They don't realize there's a big kosher wine industry. This industry includes vineyards in France and Israel. There's also a growing kosher wine industry in the U.S.
Advertising Campaigns
The company used a famous slogan: "Man-O-Manischewitz What a Wine!" This slogan was used in their advertisements.
See also
