The following is a report by The Daily Journal:
The Vineland Kosher Poultry plant on South Mill Road shut down production Dec. 30, according to a union official representing about 160 workers there.
Brian String, president of Local 152 of the United Food & Commercial Workers, said Monday the company has not responded to repeated requests for information about its operating status.
“We’ve been up there at the plant,” String said. “There’s a lot of rumors.”
String said one rumor is the plant will shift to non-kosher poultry.
Calls to the factory for comment Monday and Tuesday were not returned.
Calls to the homes of Abraham Raab, telecommunications executive; Marvin Raab, marketing executive; and Esther Raab, human resources executive, were not returned.
On Monday, a man in the factory office said the management team no longer was associated with the company. He declined to identify himself.
A sign in the office directs workers to collect their most recent paychecks, for the week ending Jan. 1, this Thursday. The parking lot was mostly empty.
Rabbi Israel Leifer, the company’s president, did not return calls although he was in the office Monday.
Leifer and Vineland resident Irving Raab, who is listed as finance executive with the company, founded the factory in 1968.
A man at a Vineland Kosher office in Brooklyn, N.Y., referred questions to the Vineland facility. The automatic phone message at the Brooklyn plant indicated the company still is taking orders.
Sandy Forosisky, redevelopment director for the city of Vineland, said the city does not know what is happening at Vineland Kosher. “We’re not in the loop,” she said.
Forosisky said the company at one point in 2010 had approached the city about the possibility of using Urban Enterprise Zone money to finance a sale. Nothing developed from the request, though.
Vineland Kosher, as of this week, remains registered as a city water utility customer and a member of the Urban Enterprise Zone in Vineland, she added.
On Oct. 1, Vineland Kosher had notified the New Jersey Department of Labor that it might lay off at least 50 employees Dec. 11. That was about 25 percent of its work force and the layoff was to include union, managers and rabbinical staff.
Abraham Raab, at that time, said competition was forcing consideration of some changes that could include less volume and different products.
String said his information is the layoffs did not take place.
Kevin Smith, a labor department spokesman, said Monday the company had not filed any new layoff notice.
A filing, known as a WARN notice, is required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
Vineland Kosher processes millions of chickens, turkeys and ducks annually.
(Source: Daily Journal)
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3 Responses
From koshertoday.com:
More Changes Looming in Kosher Poultry Business with Rumored Acquisition
Vineland NJ…Vineland Poultry, a leading producer of kosher poultry for more than 35 years, was acquired by Mehadrin Poultry for an undisclosed price, kosher food sources told Kosher Today. According to the sources, the Vineland plant will close while the Vineland brand continues to be produced at the Mehadrin Pennsylvania plant. Reached by Kosher Today on Thursday, Marvin Raab of Vineland denied the rumors. In an e-mail, he wrote: “This is totally not true. Mehadrin did not buy our plant and this is totally false.” But sources say that the transition is already underway. They say that Vineland, once said to be second only to Empire Kosher Poultry, may have fallen victim to the dramatic changes that have taken place in kosher poultry. In addition to Empire, the leader in the field for many years, and Alle Processing, Vineland faced increased competition from such relative newcomers as KJ Poultry and Mehadrin. KJ Poultry of Monroe NY is said to have captured a significant share of the market in a short time. The resurgence of the Agri poultry products under AgriStar also introduced more competition into the marketplace as did product from Canada, all of which had its effect on the low margins poultry producers were already working with. Located in Exter PA, the relatively new Mehadrin plant was damaged by a fire in February 2009, but is said to have fully recovered since.
It’s a shame, but this kind of aggressive competition has completely fowled up the Kosher poultry industry.
What ever happened to nem a metch un gib a scretch?