Many grocers are already preparing for the Nine Days which begin tomorrow, July 22nd, a period when meat is not consumed as part of the aveilus for the destruction of the First and Second Botei Mikdosh. The Nine Days are part of the Three Weeks, the period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av. The more intense mourning period of the Nine Days ends with the fast of the Ninth of Av.
Many retailers are in the midst of marketing for the outdoor BBQ season, but according to Yakov M. Yarmove, Corporate Business Development Manager, Ethnic Marketing and Specialty Foods for SuperValu, ads for stores like Jewel-Osco will soon turn to ads promoting dairy and pareve foods for the Nine Days. Some of Brooklyn’s largest kosher grocers ran full page ads in Jewish weeklies promoting meat products for the BBQ’s. Pomegranate, one of the nation’s largest gourmet kosher supermarkets, attracted nearly 200 people for a demonstration by their chefs on how to “take the BBQ to the next level.”
{Kosher Today/Matzav.com Newscenter}
