Why kosher meat costs more

I preface this column with a note that it is not intended as an advertisement for one particular kosher butcher. However the recent announcement by Melbourne’s Continental Butchers explaining price rises provided me with a wonderful basis for an explanation of an issue that continually comes up communally in regard to all our kosher butchers – the cost of kosher meat as compared to non kosher.

And I was particularly moved to expand on this topic as the email arrived just as I was studying parashat Noach in advance of last Shabbat. For it is there that we read that after the Great Mabul (Flood) humanity was permitted to eat the flesh of living creatures just as previously they were permitted to eat only vegetation – but they were not to consume life blood or the limb torn off a living creature (Laws specifically for us as Jews – which creatures we may eat – only come later in the Chumash. But even the restriction on blood has serious implications for preparation of kosher meat – and associated costs – even as we don’t consume blood per se)
There is nothing new about concerns regarding the costs of kosher meat compared to any other. During my historical research over the years I found ample evidence that already in the 19th century it was a major issue of debate and concern in colonial Australia. Even then there were occasions that dissatisfaction with particular shechitah authorities as well as costs charged even led to establishment of alternative arrangements to those provided communally under the supervision of the Beth Din or various rabbis of the times. So why is it so?

In a somewhat apologetic introduction to their announcement of pending price increases for their products, Continental wrote to customers that “we know kosher meat already comes at a premium – and we understand how sensitive price changes can feel. That’s why we want to be fully transparent with you.”

Prices were now to be adjusted (i.e. would rise) across the total meat, poultry and smallgoods range. However they emphasised, the decision to do so had not been made lightly, and certainly not without careful thought and consideration for the families who would be affected.

While everything possible had been done to absorb rising costs, the reality was that the meat industry as a whole was now facing unavoidable increases in livestock, labour, packaging and supply chain costs. And when it comes to kosher meat, those pressures are even more complex. Here’s why:
General inflation aside, livestock costs have increased dramatically.
Cattle prices are up 20–30 per cent over the past year due to global supply issues and strong international demand.

Lamb prices have risen 25–35 per cent, with tight local supply pushing them even higher in some cases.

Poultry prices rose modestly at retail level (2.4 per cent in 2023–24), but farmgate costs increased by nearly 15 per cent, driven by higher feed, packaging, and energy costs.

And then there are labour and supply chain pressures.

Australia’s wage index rose by 3.5 per cent, alongside a 0.5 per cent mandated increase to superannuation. Staff aside such wage pressures have  impacted transport and packaging partners, increasing costs throughout the supply chain.

But in kosher production, labour represents a significantly higher proportion of cost than elsewhere in the meat trade due to the specialised, skilled work of shechitah (kosher slaughter), nikkur (removal of forbidden fats), and kashering (salt-based purging of blood). These are performed under full-time kosher supervision, with many steps adding no intrinsic value to the meat – only ensuring its kosher status. Skilled shochtim (kosher slaughterers),  menakrim (experts in removing prohibited elements), and mashgichim (kosher supervisors) are involved throughout the process.
The above mentioned cost issues become even more significant when one takes into account the extent to which producing meat to the Glatt Kosher Mehadrin standards of Kosher Australia (and other hechsherim)  involves detailed, hands-on supervision at every stage.

And there are a few additional points.

The melicha (kashering) process involving salting and rinsing is labour-intensive and time-consuming, often taking up half of a working day. In earlier years this task generally fell to the housewife who hopefully knew what to do and was capable of so doing. Today there is a ubiquitous assumption that by the time the meat reaches the consumer who purchases from the butcher, it is fully ready to be cooked or otherwise prepared without the necessity for the purchaser/consumer to carry out these tasks.

Premiums are also paid at the abattoir to slow the chain speed – so the work can be done carefully and correctly – and for grass-fed beef, which results in healthier animals and higher kosher pass rates during inspection (bedikos).
There is also cost involved in ensuring that shechitah satisfies the concerns of regulatory authorities thereby ensuring its continuation in our society.
These are costs born out of integrity, not efficiency. But it’s this integrity that underpins the kashrut status of meat sold inAustralia.

I would add that there are additional issues particularly relevant to beef prices. The law of “gid hanashe” – the forbidden sinew of the hind-quarter – means that hindquarters of cattle cannot be consumed unless a certain difficult and costly form of porging is carried out. Today this is found worldwide almost solely in certain Sephardic hechsherim (which is why in Israeli restaurants one might come across certain cuts not available here).

The practice across Australia and most of the Ashkenazi world is for the hindquarters to be sold to the non-kosher trade. This means that the above-mentioned extra costs of shechitah are not shared across the animal but are totally loaded onto that portion of each animal sold as kosher. Here the resultant impact on prices we pay at the butcher is obvious.
The email to which I referred at the outset concluded with what its authors, termed “Our Commitment to You”.

And while it referred specifically to Continental Kosher Butchers currently celebrating 80 years of communal service to Victorian Jewry (and Australian Jewry elsewhere), their commitment is surely relevant to other Australian kosher butchers as well: Delivering uncompromising quality, food safety and hygiene.

Supporting the long-term sustainability of kosher meat in Australia.

Partnering with the community transparently and reliably through challenging market conditions.

So as you eat your Shabbat dinner, rather than complaining, give some thought to the issues I have raised.

Shabbat shalom,

Yossi