The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the kosher food industry especially when it comes to making inspections in China and in some other countries that are limiting access to foreigners. Star-K’s approach to this issue making every effort to make in-person inspections of facilities has been highlighted in an article by Bloomberg Businessweek.
“In July STAR-K sent four rabbis via private jet to a fish gelatin facility in Uganda where they quarantined for 14 days to supervise production.”
There’s a lot more to the kosher food industry than Hebrew National hot dogs and Manischewitz wine. Kosher food was a $19.1 billion industry in 2018, according to Allied Market Research, which projects it will grow to $25.6 billion by 2026. Many ordinary products in U.S. supermarkets are certified kosher, with everything from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to McCormick spices having kashrut symbols, and those labels can provide assurance not just for observant Jews but also for gentiles who are vegan or have other dietary restrictions.