Gourmet Glatt talks tachlis and kashrus

As Gourmet Glatt prepares for the Passover holiday, The Jewish Star sat down and spoke with its management team, Yoeli Steinberg, Moshe Ratner, Berel Wolowik, Howie Klagsburn and Shloi Rubinstein. It was a unique and exclusive conversation with a group of men who are committed to their business and the laws of Torah governing kashrus and ethics.

David F. Nesenoff: When does Gourmet Glatt start preparing for Passover?

Yoeli: We start at Chanukah. We preempt the season by having the floor manager, Howie, start to look at what products actual were bought and what our customers are interested in and what’s new to the market. He starts to put it all together and places an initial order to secure that we have product. The Pesach season starts for the wholesale business way in advance.

DFN: How do you physically get the building ready for Pesach?

Moshe: I’m going to refer to Berel, because his meat department is always the first place to minimize the amount of chametz that’s there. It’s actually easy for them because they are always doing a thorough cleaning.

Berel: People like to start their Pesach prepping two weeks before Purim, six weeks before Pesach. So we are Pesach-ready at that time.

DFN: What’s the concept or message of Gourmet Glatt?

Yoeli: First and foremost we are a united management team. Our priority is to make the consumer have an incredible shopping experience. That includes keeping a real clean sanitary environment; the greatest choice of product, the most helpful and kind staff, and making a chore that must be done, shopping for food, to be a really pleasant experience. When our advertising says, “Lean on us” we really mean it. We’ll bring in whatever you like; we extend hours. If one person needs to shop, I’m here for them. We do what is necessary to do for each individual customer.

DFN: Do you every get a complaint?

Yoeli: To be in retail and never get a complaint is not possible. The difference is that we’re in tune to the complaint. We like to validate the complaint. And then we will do our best to address it. By the next shopping experience we will do something to make that complaint addressed and that customer satisfied.