(December 1, 2008)--The collapse of the nation's largest kosher meatpacking company has caused a shortage of meats that comply with stringent Jewish food laws.
Agriprocessors had struggled since a May immigration raid at its Postville, Iowa, slaughterhouse, in which nearly 400 workers were arrested.
Customers say the packing company stopped shipping beef about three weeks ago and chicken in the last week.
Because there is only a handful of processors nationwide who slaughter animals according to Jewish law and under rabbinical supervision, the shutdown has cut the kosher meat supply to the bone.
Other processors have been swamped with orders, and they’re either boosting the amount of meat they produce or refusing to take new clients.
Some consumers are paying as much as 40 percent more for the same meat.
Markets and butchers say they can't get certain cuts of beef for their mostly Orthodox Jewish customers, and some have had to rearrange what they do have to fill display shelves.
Markets in Houston and other cities relied on Agriprocessors for their kosher meats.
The independent grocery Belden's in Houston says it is buying meat from wherever it can.
However, the shortage has been an opportunity for other processors, including Dallas-based A.D. Rosenblatt Kosher Meats.
A few weeks ago, A.D. Rosenblatt started making meat five days a week instead of three to keep up with demand from distributors.
Owner Yaakov Rosenblatt said he has more rabbis to slaughter and inspect his beef.
"If it's red and it's meat, then it sells,” he said.
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