When we think of the old, classic Passover celebrations of our childhoods, we often think of names like Manischewitz, Horowitz Margareten, and Joyva. All those Pesach foods didn’t taste quite right, whether it was the dryness of the macaroons, the triple doses of sugar in the jelly rings, or just the plain and simple packaging.
Several of these known Pesach food companies have recently rebranded and reinvented themselves — Streit’s, Joyva and Manischewitz, to name a few — with the hopes that the rebranding coincides with the revamping of the flavors we enjoy the rest of the year.
The B. Manischewitz Company, as it was called back in the day before multiple buyouts took place over the years, was a staple in anyone’s Pesach pantry. The brand used to be synonymous with matzo, macaroons, potato starch, and many other Pesach ingredients and foods.
With its recent rebranding, the company continues to expand into other realms of foods, snack foods, etc. The Manischewitz brand has definitely evolved positively over the years. Most Pesach grocery shoppers look for it on store shelves just like they would for a familiar friend they haven’t seen in a long time.
Then there’s Joyva, the king of the Pesach jelly snacks and marshmallows snacks. The company has changed its logo and modernized packaging. What’s Pesach without some Joyva jelly rings or marshmallow bars?
The jelly rings have been a staple of Pesach snacks since I was a little kid! Joyva still makes the timeless Pesach snacks that bring back memories of our childhoods with every bite. The best part is that Joyva manufactures these snacks year-round so they don’t taste any different. The business is going strong, operated by the founding family’s fourth generation.
And finally, I want to mention the Streit’s Matzos Co. While the family-owned company continues to excel in their matzo baking, they command up to 20% of all matzo sales in the United States and manufacture many Pesach cooking ingredients, snack foods, packaged foods, etc.
What stands out from Streit’s is they are the only family-owned commercial matzo baking company remaining in this country. Founded in 1916 by Aron Streit, an Austrian-born Jewish immigrant, the company is still operated by the family’s fifth generation. (I’m partial to highlighting family-owned food/grocery businesses since my own family owned the local Food-A-Rama supermarket chain in the Mid-Atlantic region back in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.)
Wishing you a zissen Pesach during this tense time for the Jewish people in Israel and around the world.
Jeremy Diamond is the author of “Tastemakers: The Legacy of Jewish Entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic Grocery Industry” (Amazon).
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