According to the Export Institute, in recent years Israel's matzoh exports have been at a level of $9 million per year, while pre-Pesach wine exports have totaled 2.8 million bottles worth $7.75 million per year.
Taaman, which is under Eida Chareidis kashrus supervision, has reported a 23.5 percent leap in pre-Pesach exports to $860,000 in trade, primarily to East Coast kehillos, in addition to substantial increases in Britain, France and other European countries.
Taaman CEO Shalom Chaim says the trend is expected to continue. "The expansion of chareidi communities outside of Israel along with the significant upgrade in the quality of mehadrin products has brought a steady rise in exports," he said. "While various communities in the Diaspora once had to bring products from a variety of sources and kashrus organizations, today the Israeli mehadrin market offers a range of products — from staples to end- products such as snack foods and candy — with strict kashrus, which of course draws high demand and a very large market segment."
The standard-level kashrus market has also grown significantly. During the past year food sales at US food stores and supermarkets surpassed the $200 billion mark, compared to $150 billion in 2003 — double the growth rate of the non-kosher food industry.
According to a new study on trends in the US kosher foods market, one of the factors for the rise is the promotion of imported products at specialty chains in the Diaspora. At the 70-branch Wegmans chain, for instance, pre-Pesach campaigns to promote Israeli foods are a sign of increasing worldwide demand for kosher food.
