East Rutherford, N.J. – Jeffrey Striks has taken a bite of a new niche in the American kosher food market: sports stadiums.
He got his start seven years ago, offering kosher food at concession stands at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium in New York.
Business is so good that he’s expanded his company, Strikly Kosher, and now operates kosher stands at Giants Stadium and Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, Nassau Coliseum in Long Island and the Yankees’ minor league ballpark in Staten Island.
His core market is the most observant Jews who follow the laws of kashrut, which restricts what food can be eaten and how it is prepared.
But he’s also attracting customers who aren’t Jewish and perceive that kosher food is healthier.
Fans of the Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies can buy kosher dogs from Zaler’s Kosher Korner at Invesco Field at Mile High and Coors Field.
Over the past year, the company has expanded at Invesco from one stand to 13, said owner Arnie Zaler.
He sells kosher hot dogs, Italian beef and hot pastrami sandwiches.
“People are so nervous about what they’re eating,” said Zaler, whose family has run the business for 94 years. “They’re not sure what kosher is, but they know there’s some process that makes it healthier. They know they won’t get a lot of junk in their hot dog.”
The market looking for a perceived healthier option is a growing segment in the kosher market, said Paul Crnkovich, whose company, Cannondale Associates, released a study this month about the kosher consumer.
“Kosher is perceived in a similar way as being better for you and being healthier,” he said.
Since typical stadium fare is hot dogs, selling kosher food at sports venues is a logical market, said Marcia Mogelonsky, an analyst at Mintel, a market research firm in Chicago which estimates the American kosher food market to be $40 billion.
“If there’s a product that has been scrutinized, it is hot dogs,” she said. “Selling a kosher hot dog assures the public that they’re getting a 100 percent all-beef hot dog. They have to be in order to be kosher.”
