Heinz Canada cancels part of Kosher tax-too expensive.........
Heinz Canada trims kosher product line
By JENNIFER M. PAQUETTE
Special to The CJN
Kosher shoppers were shocked recently to discover that Heinz Canada has removed kosher certification from all but a handful of its products.
According to company spokesperson Anna Relyea, the move stemmed from a desire to "keep costs down while continuing to provide kosher products to our customers."
COR officials say consumer response indicates the decision may have been a mistake, one which they say Heinz may reverse in the foreseeable future.
Only a few Heinz products remain under supervision, including ketchup, infant cereal and tomato juice.
Items that are no longer kosher include staples such as tomato sauces and paste, vinegar and mustard.
Heinz jarred baby foods are also no longer kosher, and Heinz - as the federal Competition Bureau noted three years ago when it investigated the company for anti-competitive practices in the sector - is the sole supplier of jarred baby food in Canada.
As a result, many parents will be forced to buy more expensive imported kosher baby foods, such as Beech-Nut. (Heinz "Pablum" dry baby foods remain kosher.)
The decertification decision follows a deal last year between Heinz Canada's parent company in the United States and Del Monte that saw Del Monte acquire a number of leading Heinz brands, including Starkist tuna. But "the Del Monte deal has nothing to do with thisŠ decision," Relyea said.
"This was done after a lot of careful consideration," she said. "Only when there were no other options available did we decide to remove the designations."
In the 1920s, Heinz products in the United States were the first to carry national kosher certification under the "OU" hechsher, which still certifies many American-made Heinz products.
Heinz Canada has also discontinued supervision on all domestic beans, including those formerly manufactured under the Libby's label. Libby's was acquired by Heinz Canada in 1996, and at that time, the changeover did not compromise the longstanding certification of products, including the vegetarian Deep Browned Beans variety.
Products were cut from the kosher line based on a variety of factors, Relyea said, including "how complex the manufacturing is, what the savings were and so on."
The size of a product category was also a major factor, she said. "For example, in the case of ketchup, [the category] is huge, so maintaining kosher made sense."
Ending the certification on beans was more of a logistics issue, given the complexity of producing a product with pork and a kosher vegetarian product at the same time.
Rabbi Mordechai Levin, COR's executive director, said there are "definite problems there. They're making kosher and non-kosher products on the same equipment."
Based in Toronto, Heinz Canada is one of 40 worldwide subsidiaries of its U.S. parent. It employs 2,000 full-time salaried and hourly employees and more than 500 seasonal staff.
Relyea called the Canadian marketplace a "very competitive retail trade environment," one that keeps the company "under continual pressure to keep costs down to remain competitive."
However, she was unable to substantiate company claims that the move will save money.
In 1991, a Heinz spokesperson, quoted in an Anti-Defamation League document arguing against claims that kosher supervision "taxes" non-Jewish consumers, said the per item cost [of supervision] is "so small we can't even calculate it," and that kosher labelling actually makes products less costly by increasing the market for them.
Relyea says the de-listing hasn't affected any Heinz products in the United States.
"I want to reassure people that [for] the products that are currently kosher American products, this decision doesn't affect them at allŠ there's a whole range of beans available that remain kosher in the U.S., because it's a much larger market."
Regarding consumer feedback, Relyea said, "we've done as much as we can to retain the kosher designation where possible." She downplayed the change, saying "it's a small percentage [of products] that were Œde-koshered.'"
Rabbi Levin said Heinz simply "didn't do their homework very well. Consumers are complaining that there are no baked beans, or that other products that they're accustomed to using aren't available any more."
The move has caused confusion in the Jewish community, he said, and rumours have been circulating that the products are still under COR certification, but packaged without the kosher symbol.
Rabbi Levin said there is no truth to the rumour. "We don't endorse anything without the COR on the label, especially something that sensitiveŠ only products bearing the COR label are acceptable."
He said he is optimistic some Canadian Heinz products may become kosher again soon.
"We've asked Heinz to revisit [the decision]," he said.
Relyea said she is unaware of efforts that might have been made to find alternatives to de-certifying and wouldn't comment on possible future changes.
Meanwhile, COR is asking consumers to continue contacting Heinz to express their concerns.
"Hopefully," said Rabbi Levin, "we can get some of the products back on line."
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