You want to help stores afford a mashgiach? But if their prices don’t go down the simple Joe will never see a difference. You are helping the wrong side.
You want to help people… then open a store that only sells cheap products. With minimal profit and even that can be used to help poor people pay later…etc.
Nice idea. Sweet dreams. Hechsherim is their parnosoh. I cannot think of a Rov that would offer his time for free. The mashgichim who are on site, even if not the rabbonim themselves, are doing this to generate income for their families. There is no way to make the process cost free. And efforts to deny rabbonim their parnosoh are doomed. If someone told you to go to work, but everything was on volunteer basis, would you accept the job? You might have legitimate complaint that the costs of obtaining the hechsher are too steep. But that’s the market. Again, sweet dreams.
Tell the frum companies to stop charging so much extra for the regular super hechsher with the frum company name added on with a 50% surcharge on the frum community
Or you can stop with the brainwashing and start buying popular goyishe brands food which in many cases, is a lot cheaper. Nothing wrong with name brand bread cake or cookies or chalav stam products. If they have a legitimate hechsher like the OU, OK, StarK, ChofK, etc… there’s nothing wrong with purchasing them. No need to go into debt and compile chovos, if there is an aitza. Bracha vihatzlacha to them. It’s not a mitzvah to get ripped off. Sorry.
Are you really a shmatte head? The products produced by frum companies are generally the same price as the name brands. It’s true that you can sometimes get the name brands at a great price at a Shoprite sale, but Hunt’s tomato sauce is the same regular price as Unger’s.
At least the name brands in ShopRite HAVE A SALE EVERY NOW AND THEN! There is a weekly circular where there are sales every single week on different grocery items. You can also preload to your club card additional coupons and savings on hundreds of products. Tropicana orange juice, Dannon yogurt, McCain french fries, Chock full of Nuts ground coffee, Kens salad dressing, Coke products, Pringles, Renuzit scent swirls, Entenmann’s cakes & cookies, Barilla pasta, etc etc… I’m talking about real savings – half price, many times. By the Heimishe company products in heimishe stores, THERE IS NEVER A SALE OR DISCOUNT, N E V E R!!! Saving 4 cents on Heimishe pickles, with additional $85 non sale items purchase, just doesn’t cut it. That’s an insult for a growing yiddishe mishpacha with kn”h a home full of children. I’ll take ShopRite and Stop & Shop any day, over some overpriced heimishe store selling almost only heimishe inferior products. Call me rasha. Call me an oisvorf. Call me what you want. We don’t receive food stamps or any other government handouts and no one is knocking on our door to hand me extra cash for shopping. But you can do as you please. It’s a free country, I think.
The mashgichim don’t make much money at this job. The heads of the kashrus agency make the money. My husband worked as mashgiach for an even in upstate NY. He worked 5 days, 8-12 hours each day and was paid for travel. He earned $900 for the 5 days. The caterer told him the kashrus organization charged the event people $18000 (eighteen thousand dollars)!! We know the name of the kashrus agency and the person in charge lives in a mansion in a rich neighborhood. He did none of the work except a phone call to the event people with his cost and another phone call to my husband. Maybe do takanos for that!!!
Hoshgochos are out of control. The truth is that if there wouldn’t be so much money involved, all hoshgochos would improve and be more transparent. They would not be blinded by the money, and would not be so quick to rely on kulos.
One of the major issues is, that because hashgochos became “businesses”, nobody trusts anybody else. Each hoshgocho bad-mouths the other (sometimes rightfully so). Because of this, one product might have four hecsheirim on it in order to cater to everyone. Why does this company have to pay for four different hechsherim?!? Especially when they almost always piggy-back off of each other.
Look what happened recently. A certain product had five hashgochos on it. That means they were paying five times what they should need to pay. They knocked off one, and signs went up, and texts went out not to use this product anymore. Even though it still has four other strong hashgochos on it!
It would be much cheaper for the consumer if they were to create one very high accepted standard. Or maybe make two standards- “kosher” and “mehadrin”. AKO would regulate and make sure each hashgocho keeps the same standards. Even though it might cost more for the more lenient hashgochos to up their standard, in the long run it will be a lot cheaper for us consumers to pay for only one supervision.
Rising prices have to do with inflation not kashrus. Their are some supermarkets that have literal monopolies and charge whatever they want. They make millions off the backs of others.
Same with matzah. I propose that every rabbi should buy machine shmurah matzah this upcoming year instead of hand. That would show our community what really matters
I’m a private label food broker/supplier who work on a minimal margin having the consumer’s pocket in mind since I myself struggled for years to put food on the table (I’m not going to post my company name here) so let me tell you:
1) the Mashgichim are taking me to the dry cleaners on each production,
2) the groceries are working on a 45-50% markup, why on God’s given earth is this justified? Why is it that in Europe the grocer works on 30-35% as opposed to the American grocer?
You are free to purchase the name brands on sale. I do that too. No taanos. But Shmatte head’s attack on the frum brands was not called for. They are providing a service for those who want it. If you want to do ShopRite sales feel free (as I often do, I will buy the frum brand if it is competitive).
I would never purchase a product certified by a pro Bono he hechsher. The fact of the matter is we are all human Rabbonim included and we do a much better job when we are paid.
How many commenters didn’t even read the attached letter?
NOBODY is saying mashgichim should work for free – of course they need a parnosoh like everyone else. What’s proposed is that well-to-do community members pay the hashgocha organizations, relieving the stores and consumers of that part of the products’ cost. It further states that they have people who are willing to pay the costs of the proposed new hashgochos.
Just like they have takana weddings, they should have takana kashrus.
You want to help stores afford a mashgiach? But if their prices don’t go down the simple Joe will never see a difference. You are helping the wrong side.
You want to help people… then open a store that only sells cheap products. With minimal profit and even that can be used to help poor people pay later…etc.
Nice idea. Sweet dreams. Hechsherim is their parnosoh. I cannot think of a Rov that would offer his time for free. The mashgichim who are on site, even if not the rabbonim themselves, are doing this to generate income for their families. There is no way to make the process cost free. And efforts to deny rabbonim their parnosoh are doomed. If someone told you to go to work, but everything was on volunteer basis, would you accept the job? You might have legitimate complaint that the costs of obtaining the hechsher are too steep. But that’s the market. Again, sweet dreams.
Tell the frum companies to stop charging so much extra for the regular super hechsher with the frum company name added on with a 50% surcharge on the frum community
Or you can stop with the brainwashing and start buying popular goyishe brands food which in many cases, is a lot cheaper. Nothing wrong with name brand bread cake or cookies or chalav stam products. If they have a legitimate hechsher like the OU, OK, StarK, ChofK, etc… there’s nothing wrong with purchasing them. No need to go into debt and compile chovos, if there is an aitza. Bracha vihatzlacha to them. It’s not a mitzvah to get ripped off. Sorry.
Are you really a shmatte head? The products produced by frum companies are generally the same price as the name brands. It’s true that you can sometimes get the name brands at a great price at a Shoprite sale, but Hunt’s tomato sauce is the same regular price as Unger’s.
At least the name brands in ShopRite HAVE A SALE EVERY NOW AND THEN! There is a weekly circular where there are sales every single week on different grocery items. You can also preload to your club card additional coupons and savings on hundreds of products. Tropicana orange juice, Dannon yogurt, McCain french fries, Chock full of Nuts ground coffee, Kens salad dressing, Coke products, Pringles, Renuzit scent swirls, Entenmann’s cakes & cookies, Barilla pasta, etc etc… I’m talking about real savings – half price, many times. By the Heimishe company products in heimishe stores, THERE IS NEVER A SALE OR DISCOUNT, N E V E R!!! Saving 4 cents on Heimishe pickles, with additional $85 non sale items purchase, just doesn’t cut it. That’s an insult for a growing yiddishe mishpacha with kn”h a home full of children. I’ll take ShopRite and Stop & Shop any day, over some overpriced heimishe store selling almost only heimishe inferior products. Call me rasha. Call me an oisvorf. Call me what you want. We don’t receive food stamps or any other government handouts and no one is knocking on our door to hand me extra cash for shopping. But you can do as you please. It’s a free country, I think.
The mashgichim don’t make much money at this job. The heads of the kashrus agency make the money. My husband worked as mashgiach for an even in upstate NY. He worked 5 days, 8-12 hours each day and was paid for travel. He earned $900 for the 5 days. The caterer told him the kashrus organization charged the event people $18000 (eighteen thousand dollars)!! We know the name of the kashrus agency and the person in charge lives in a mansion in a rich neighborhood. He did none of the work except a phone call to the event people with his cost and another phone call to my husband. Maybe do takanos for that!!!
Hoshgochos are out of control. The truth is that if there wouldn’t be so much money involved, all hoshgochos would improve and be more transparent. They would not be blinded by the money, and would not be so quick to rely on kulos.
One of the major issues is, that because hashgochos became “businesses”, nobody trusts anybody else. Each hoshgocho bad-mouths the other (sometimes rightfully so). Because of this, one product might have four hecsheirim on it in order to cater to everyone. Why does this company have to pay for four different hechsherim?!? Especially when they almost always piggy-back off of each other.
Look what happened recently. A certain product had five hashgochos on it. That means they were paying five times what they should need to pay. They knocked off one, and signs went up, and texts went out not to use this product anymore. Even though it still has four other strong hashgochos on it!
It would be much cheaper for the consumer if they were to create one very high accepted standard. Or maybe make two standards- “kosher” and “mehadrin”. AKO would regulate and make sure each hashgocho keeps the same standards. Even though it might cost more for the more lenient hashgochos to up their standard, in the long run it will be a lot cheaper for us consumers to pay for only one supervision.
Rising prices have to do with inflation not kashrus. Their are some supermarkets that have literal monopolies and charge whatever they want. They make millions off the backs of others.
Same with matzah. I propose that every rabbi should buy machine shmurah matzah this upcoming year instead of hand. That would show our community what really matters
Or those who swoop in here every Ellul to sell esrogim rip off to the most gullible amongst us. The halachos of Choshen Mishpat don’t apply to these
I’m a private label food broker/supplier who work on a minimal margin having the consumer’s pocket in mind since I myself struggled for years to put food on the table (I’m not going to post my company name here) so let me tell you:
1) the Mashgichim are taking me to the dry cleaners on each production,
2) the groceries are working on a 45-50% markup, why on God’s given earth is this justified? Why is it that in Europe the grocer works on 30-35% as opposed to the American grocer?
Continuation company is a relatively new one, if I reveal the name you’ll see that I’m genuine,my product is extremely compatible to the competition,
I see you are a rabbi in Willy. Why don’t you speak to the crc about doing pro-bono work. I’ll grow hair on my palms faster
You are free to purchase the name brands on sale. I do that too. No taanos. But Shmatte head’s attack on the frum brands was not called for. They are providing a service for those who want it. If you want to do ShopRite sales feel free (as I often do, I will buy the frum brand if it is competitive).
I would never purchase a product certified by a pro Bono he hechsher. The fact of the matter is we are all human Rabbonim included and we do a much better job when we are paid.
How many commenters didn’t even read the attached letter?
NOBODY is saying mashgichim should work for free – of course they need a parnosoh like everyone else. What’s proposed is that well-to-do community members pay the hashgocha organizations, relieving the stores and consumers of that part of the products’ cost. It further states that they have people who are willing to pay the costs of the proposed new hashgochos.