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FREEHOLD, N.J. -- Twenty-five years ago, it was a kosher experiment -- a booth of staple items like matzoh and noodles placed at the front of a Foodarama ShopRite store in Lakewood, N.J.
Today, it's The Kosher Experience, a well-respected, oft-copied program that demonstrates the ability of food retailers to connect with their customers on an intimate level where trust is the guiding principle.
Carl Montanaro has been present for the whole story, and as Foodarama's senior vice president, sales and marketing, has helped take The Kosher Experience from a holiday-focused merchandising platform to an umbrella store-within-a-store format offering all categories of goods from around the world.
"Instead of being a dietary, religious need, kosher has become a cultural want," Montanaro said on the eve of being honored by Chabad House, an international organization devoted to the Jewish faith and its kosher traditions. "It's a world food organization now. Basically, what kosher is, is an international aisle with foods from around the world, including the United States."
Rabbi Yosef Carlebach, executive director of Chabad House at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., recalled the start of the...