When most of us visit grocery stores, we’re primarily thinking about what food items we need and what to buy. But Pikesville resident Jeremy Diamond is highly passionate about supermarkets and groceries. For him, it’s more than a casual errand.
His grandfather, Paul Diamond, and great-uncles, Dave Diamond and Ben Schuster, opened Food-A-Rama in Baltimore after surviving the Holocaust. Food-A-Rama grew to 48 stores and was one of multiple Jewish-founded local grocery store chains in the region.
In 2018, Diamond independently published “Tastemakers: The Legacy of Jewish Entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic Grocery Industry.” He’s now out with, “Tastemakers II,” the book’s second expanded edition.
Jmore recently spoke with Diamond, 49, about his book and the food industry.
Why did you originally want to write about the history of grocery stores?
Years ago, I worked in my cousin’s supermarkets during high school. This was after Food-A-Rama was sold. And during college, I had to write papers on different business and marketing concepts. I would sit with my older relatives and receive business advice. They would use their experience in the supermarket business as examples. The more they told me, the more I wanted to know.
I started looking around for who in the various Jewish-founded grocery families and retired executives/brokers remembered details regarding the local grocers of yesterday. As the older generation started dying off, I realized these stories are going to be lost if someone didn’t document them.
What was your research process?
I compiled the whole story of Food-A-Rama and my family’s history of coming to America and starting a corner grocery store, then proceeded to locate and interview as many retired and active industry icons as I could find.
Cold-calling retired CEOs of old and current grocery companies and saying my family owned the Food-A-Rama supermarket chain got my foot in the door many times. The more stories I heard, the more I wanted to know.
The ‘Tastemakers II’ book has an Acknowledgements page that lists and gives the deserved respect to these many folks who allowed me to interview them.
I started to include 20-plus other Jewish-founded businesses, and everyone had a story. I interviewed more than 50 people for my book. I sat with family members, retired CEOs and second-generation grocery store owners. Most of the stories have common themes, but they are so different. I just started typing, and the book started growing larger.
Some of your takeaways?
I got a feel for how hard life was for the Holocaust survivors who came here after their families had been murdered. They had no money. They started from scratch. They didn’t speak English, which was a big barrier — many important meetings at Food-A-Rama were in Yiddish. And my grandfather learned the English language from customers in his corner store where he started in 1947 in the inner city. He didn’t know how to cut meat. He and my uncles Dave and Ben learned how to cut meat on the job.
These days in America, a lot of us don’t realize how good we have it and how much harder it was back then. It definitely makes me more appreciative of what we as a society have now.
Why a second edition?
I expanded on the existing [book] and added more grocery businesses that were founded by Jews. I also included an Italian grocery section. Italians and Jews have so much in common. We’re all about food. We love big family gatherings. And there’s other similarities, like the work ethic. So that’s why there’s an Italian section in the second edition.
I have a Bonus section which showcases the history of random Jewish-founded food businesses like Tootsie Roll, Manischewitz, Peanut Chews, Mike and Ike, Baskin-Robbins, etc. I started typing and the book started growing larger.
Interesting facts you learned along the way?
Giant Food was founded [in 1936] by a rabbi. The average shopper at a Giant store wouldn’t know that.
Old Bay Seasoning (Baltimore Spice Company) is a featured company in the second edition of the book. Founded by German Jew, Gus Brunn, the business started out in the cowhide industry, then mixed spices for German sausage companies in Germany, and also when he went into business in Baltimore. I interviewed his son, Ralph, who’s in his late 90s and took over the company from his father, expanded it worldwide before selling the business. It’s an incredible story!
Do Jewish values guide your writing?
It’s very important to me that I’m leading a Jewish life with Jewish values. I’m the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and I take that very seriously. I feel very strongly about Israel and being Jewish. It’s an honor.
Jeremy Diamond’s “Tastemakers II: The Legacy of Jewish Entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic Grocery Industry” is available on Amazon and The Ivy Bookshop at 5928 Falls Road.
Anna Lippe is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer.
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