Aleph will be certified KSR, Montreal\u2019s \u201cyounger\u201d kosher certifying authority, launched in 1978 by Quebec\u2019s Chief Sephardic Rabbi David Sabbah. Its heksher is found on most west-end kosher eateries and increasing \u2013 about three dozen to date \u2013 numbers of businesses and including many products from bread to honey. It\u2019s growing in popularity and recognition in Montreal, just as the Jewish population itself evolves, with a growing Sephardi community.<\/p>\n
Boyarsky\u2019s vision is simple: reduce costs through low profit margins, direct sourcing of beef, and alternative certification. That\u2019s the root of big savings said Boyarsky, adding, \u201cKSR are doing it for the same reason. It was a mechayeh (a pleasure) working with them. They were very, very reasonable, very affordable, it was a no-brainer. It wasn\u2019t even \u2018let me counter-offer, let me negotiate.\u2019 To put it bluntly, it\u2019s as if KSR was doing it for free, because they want to serve Montreal. I think it means a lot to Rabbi Sabbah that people have kosher meat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boyarsky made a point of explaining why he didn\u2019t work with one of Canada\u2019s largest certifiers \u2013 Montreal Kosher (MK), which has been in business for a century and dominates the market in Montreal, certifying more than 150 companies. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t even have considered working with MK. Not for a second.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harsh words, he agrees, but he actually faults Montreal\u2019s oldest and most well-known authority for what he calls favouring dominant importers and producers, like Canada\u2019s largest kosher meat distributor Mehadrin, which procures and distributes about three-quarters of the kosher output from Canadian slaughterhouses and imports from Mexico and Argentina.<\/p>\n
That he says, makes it near impossible for smaller players to bring in new products, to the detriment of the Jewish community. \u201cBecause there\u2019s no competition, Jewish families pay far more. It\u2019s wrong and it has to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he acknowledges MK is the hechsher of choice for many large food producers, he insists there\u2019s far more to it. \u201cSo they certify Heinz ketchup? Lovely! It would be nice if people could afford a hot dog, or maybe some smoked meat between the bread and the condiment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a monopoly in Montreal and without competition the prices of meat rise faster in Montreal than the challah. People have been getting ripped off for 30 years and we haven\u2019t seen any relief from anybody. I\u2019m sure if they wanted to lower the prices, they could do so very quickly. In my opinion, MK should have went to the biggest producers and said, \u2018Either the price goes down or we\u2019re going to let other people come in and pressure the prices down immediately.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The CJN asked MK and Jewish Community Council (JCC) director Rabbi Saul Emanuel, about the issues raised, notably, if MK is making it too difficult for competition in Montreal, and what he thinks about Montreal families traveling out of the city to find kosher meat cheaper than in their own neighbourhoods. Rabbi Emanuel did not respond to The CJN\u2019s queries.<\/p>\n
KSR is no new kid on the block, but they are smaller than MK. \u201cYes, it\u2019s true we are the smaller one in Montreal,\u201d KSR\u2019s Amram Sabbah told The CJN, \u201cthey are the first, but we are happy to be the second, the younger ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nemes said he told Rabbi Sabbah what they wanted \u201cand he came back very quickly and said \u2018Absolutely, we can do this\u2019. We sourced the proper (kosher slaughterers) and went to Argentina with our team. We met everybody, created relationships, and Chief Rabbi David Sabbah went down to check it all out and authorized it.\u201d<\/p>\n
What has garnered the most attention about Boyarsky\u2019s new venture, apart from the hype about opening the week before Passover, is his very assertive posture that Montreal needs a new model of retail and kosher certification to create competition. And he finds the reactions both amusing and disturbing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden a few Ashkenazim are working with Sephardi heksherim (kosher certifiers) and people lose their minds,\u201d he laughs, attributing the fuss to \u201csome small groups that are racist towards the Sephardic community and don\u2019t respect it. KSR is a perfectly valid certifier, in Chabad especially, that attitude has been completely thrown out. We respect it 100 per cent. Anybody who thinks KSR is inferior, it\u2019s just outward racism towards the Sephardi community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boyarsky said he was moved to act after seeing a woman wincing at the price of kosher food in a store case. \u201cHer eyes nearly popped out of her head and she dropped the package and moved on. I don\u2019t know if she bought meat that day or if she bought trayf (non-kosher).\u201d A few days later, his own simple meat order for a small gathering ran above $800. \u201cAnd for nothing special. It\u2019s out of control and Montrealers have needed relief from these prices for years, but it\u2019s never happened because there\u2019s no competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says there will be regular savings. \u201cI don\u2019t need to lose money, we just need to do fair prices, particularly on products families need so they can stock up. And these are staples: ground beef, chicken, London broil. Everything will be significantly cheaper.\u201d Simply put says Boyarsky, Jewish families need another alternative to not eating meat, eating non-kosher, or even hitting the road to New York or New Jersey to load up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous. It\u2019s easier for a family to head down to Monsey or Lakewood or Borough Park and load up whatever the limit is and bring it home.\u201d And it\u2019s often from the same large company that sells around the corner from their home, he says, \u201cfar cheaper.\u201d (Mehadrin products for example, are not only ubiquitous in Montreal and across Canada, but available at U.S. stores including Trader Joe\u2019s locations along the U.S. east coast.)<\/p>\n
Even with travel and exchange, he says, significant savings are possible. Indeed, kosher meat in Montreal is typically 35-55 per cent more expensive than in the larger U.S. markets. A quick, recent comparison of advertised Montreal and New York grocery prices, shows a pound of kosher medium ground beef typically fetching about US$10 versus about US$15 (Cdn. $20.50) in Montreal, while whole kosher chicken can cost 50 per cent more in Montreal, with wide spreads in prices depending on location. The difference is more marked on items like brisket and rib steak.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard that and it\u2019s embarrassing,\u201d says Elie, a 45-year-old father from C\u00f4te des Neiges, bringing his children to the health clinic next door. \u201cSome things should be beyond \u2018cold, hard business.\u2019 What this man is doing is wonderful.\u201d The CJN asked another Orthodox shopper what he thought, the man waving off the question, saying, \u201clet\u2019s see the quality of kosher.\u201d Asked to clarify, he replied, \u201cit\u2019s not all the same, but I wish him luck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nemes says the new store has already changed the market in Montreal. \u201cTake a look at some recent specials advertised in different stores \u2013 you can see already a few things dropping,\u201d he laughs, \u201cbecause of all the talk about competition coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aleph will employ about 10 people with three or four butchers on-site, with fully stocked meat cases and a selection of prepared meals, along with a full line of COR-certified Premier Kosher chicken from Toronto.<\/p>\n
But Boyarsky\u2019s vision goes beyond the 4,500-sq.-ft. store, and he wants Aleph meats in other stores, restaurants and institutions. \u201cWe\u2019re working with some very big retailers to carry our products. One is confirmed, and a few others we\u2019re working on, in Montreal and across Canada.\u201d He\u2019s mum on details but says \u201cwhen people see our products in those stores, heads will spin.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says he has received some pushback in the form of calls or comments from \u201cconcerned people, in the business who are worried about losing their part of the market. I\u2019m just being told \u2018You better not do this, it can\u2019t happen,\u2019 but I couldn\u2019t care less. It\u2019s happening and nothing is stopping it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he laughs it off, and says \u201cthe big winner will not be me, not KSR, not MK. The big winner will be Montreal consumers. There\u2019s a million businesses I can go into. I don\u2019t need to go into this to get screamed at, I\u2019m doing this strictly to help the community. This is just my way of giving back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, Boyarsky and his family are better known for their real estate activity, particularly in the Snowdon neighbourhood surrounding the D\u00e9carie Expressway, their interests including hotels, and TAV College, which changed the game in Quebec for private college access, both for the Orthodox Jewish and wider Quebec communities.<\/p>\n
The arrival of Aleph comes while kosher food availability and affordability in Canada is in flux. Last year, Ottawa announced $40 million to support companies<\/a> doing kosher and halal operations, funding also meant to help producers comply with 2019 Safe Food for Canadians Regulations<\/a> which increased costs, slowed production, and reduced efficiency to the point that some licence holders shuttered kosher production.<\/p>\n Mehadrin, together with Shefa Meats, the Kashruth Council of Canada\u00a0<\/a>(COR)\u00a0and MK, went to Federal Court to stop enforcement of the guidelines and the court agreed, granting a July 2024 injunction<\/a> halting enforcement of certain provisions until a final resolution.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear if the federal cash will significantly affect Canada\u2019s kosher meat supply, with only two projects approved to date<\/a>: Beretta Farms Ltd., received approximately $179,000 to introduce halal slaughter at its Alberta operations with enhanced stunning methods; and P.E.I.-based Atlantic Beef Products Inc., about $2.2 million to recover more products from beef carcasses and improve halal packaging for retailers.<\/p>\n Joel has spent his entire adult life scribbling. For two decades, he freelanced for more than a dozen North American and European trade publications, writing on home decor, HR, agriculture, defense technologies and more. Having lived at 14 addresses in and around Greater Montreal, for 17 years he worked as reporter for a local community newspaper, covering the education, political and municipal beats in seven cities and boroughs. He loves to bike, swim, watch NBA and kvetch about politics.<\/p>\n\n
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