MANISCHEWITZ AT PESACH TIME

As Passover nears, tradition as important as innovation at Newark’s Manischewitz factory

Sarah Portlock / The Star-Ledger By Sarah Portlock / The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger

Yehuda Tyberg, his bright blue eyes twinkling, watched closely as the last of the matzoh produced this year for Passover at Manischewitz’s Newark plant rolled out of the oven last week.

His task was serious, and one that is deeply rooted in tradition. As a kosher supervisor, he must make sure every piece of the unleavened bread is perfect, or else it must be thrown out. Kosher for Passover means all or nothing.

“It’s a big responsibility,” he said, smiling through his long gray beard. “After me, it’s ready for Passover.”

Tyberg, a 60-year-old Brooklyn resident, is one of 10 supervisors who oversee matzoh production during the kosher powerhouse’s busiest season — the three months leading up to Passover, which starts April 18. Products sold for the holiday account for about 45 percent of annual sales. The company produces 60 percent of its annual matzoh in this time, and hires an additional six mashgiach, or supervisors, to make sure everything is kosher.
matzoh1.jpgSteve Hockstein for the Star-Ledger Kosher supervisor Yehuda Tyberg inspects freshly baked matzoh as it leaves the oven as production winds down and Passover nears at the Manischewitz manufactuing plant in Newark.

Four years ago, the company relocated to a shiny new facility in industrial southeastern Newark from Jersey City, its home since 1932. Workers can make an estimated 37 million pounds a year of matzoh on the new equipment — enough to go around the globe twice — and there are four production lines to manufacture nearly 400 other products. And, yet, even with all the modernization, there is one word that dictates how the work is done: tradition.

“I can’t say I miss (the old factory), it’s just a different approach,” said production superintendent Valery Pvezner, 63, who has been with the company for nearly two decades and commutes from Brooklyn. “It’s a different evolution.”

One thing is clear, however.

“We keep the old tradition in how we supervise, how we conserve the way (matzoh) looks, tastes, its moisture level,” he said.

Even in this shiny new space, Manischewitz wanted to be sure and honor the way things have been done since 1888, when Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz revolutionized matzoh-making by automating the process and switching the shape to square from round to better fit his machines. Workers brought bricks from the original oven in Jersey City, and they now rest beneath the natural gas burners in Newark. The company produces matzoh in batches small enough to make sure it follows the 18-minute rule, the maximum amount of time allowed from mixing to baking to make sure the dough doesn’t rise. The eight-day celebration commemorates the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites didn’t have time to let their bread rise.

“It’s our acknowledgment to a very old tradition,” said Randall Copeland, vice president of operations.

The supervisor watching over the first stage is Martin Frommer, who has been with the company for 15 years. Frommer, 63, said what he does is more important than money.

“I make a living, but it’s mitzvot, too,” he said, referring to the act of fulfilling God’s commandments.

Specially-milled flour from Lancaster County, Pa. is funneled in from three silos outside, 65 pounds per batch, and it mixes with 20 pounds of local Newark water that is filtered through charcoal and has settled overnight.

After mixing, the sand-like dough is pressed into four layers and passes through five heavy rollers, each flattening it more and more with computer-programmed precision, like long, wide noodles.

A cutter then slices the dough into squares and punctures it, a method used to prevent the cracker from rising too much, and from burning on its way through the oven.

Through a set of double-doors sits the new, stainless steel 150-foot, 138-burner oven. Here the matzoh gets its consistency and color as it cooks in three zones, each with different temperatures. The cracker reaches its peak at 705 degrees Fahrenheit, but the third and coolest stage is where it gets its golden color and crunch.

This is where Tyberg sits, perched on a stool and studying the pieces as they come through the conveyor belt. If any crackers are touching, bent, or otherwise imperfect, he flicks a switch and the crackers fall into a waiting bucket.

“The consumer relies on us, so we (have) to give them the best,” he said.

Machines then package seven pieces to a packet, and two packets per box, which range from $3 to $4. Kosher for Passover matzoh is slightly more expensive, but the price varies per retailer, a spokeswoman said. The food can be eaten all year round with chopped liver, cream cheese or butter spread on top.

In other parts of the factory, workers are buzzing about, watching over a matzoh ball production line and preparing crates to send out to customers worldwide.

While the company has strict adherence to tradition, Manischewitz has embraced an awareness of health-conscious consumers in its product line. This season, the company has created 35 new items, including coconut macaroon pie crusts, a special cupcake batter mix and cereals. It is also creating a line of options like reduced-sodium chicken broth and products without trans-fats, MSG or artificial ingredients.

Packaging has been redesigned. The initiatives are all part of the company’s effort to look forward, with a nod to its founder’s enterprising spirit, said CEO Alain Bankier.

“Where we fit in is we have continued the tradition of maintaining very modern entrepreneurial and innovative manufacturing of products, because that’s really what he did,” he said.

“We’re focused today on really producing a food that is great, that is a culinary experience and happens to be kosher, rather than the other way around.”