During the 2008

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

season, kosher-for-Passover

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was short in supply due to several issues, leading to a scramble among kosher consumers to obtain the staple since it features prominently in many Passover recipes.

Causes

There were several causes of the margarine shortage. One was the shortage of cottonseed oil, the main ingredient in the product. Cottonseed oil is used in lieu of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

soybean oil Soybean oil (British English: soyabean oil) is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean (''Glycine max''). It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils and the second most consumed vegetable oil. As a drying oil, processed so ...

, the traditional bases for margarine, which are not permitted to

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

during Passover due to the laws of ''

kitniyot ''Kitniyot'' ( he, קִטְנִיּוֹת, ''qitniyyot'') is a Hebrew word meaning legumes. During the Passover holiday, however, the word ''kitniyot'' (or ''kitniyos'' in some dialects) takes on a broader meaning to include grains and seeds such ...

''. Cottonseed oil is a byproduct of cotton; because of the demand for corn-based

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

, many farmers dropped their cotton crops in favor of more lucrative corn. Additionally, some of the previous manufacturers of Passover margarine discontinued producing the product after deciding it was not economically feasible. The process of cleansing a margarine

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

to make it suitable for producing kosher-for-Passover margarine is complicated, and involves dismantling much of the equipment. Some of the previous manufacturers felt it was no longer practical to undergo these procedures for a short-term project.

Manischewitz Manischewitz (; he, מנישביץ) is a brand of kosher products based in the United States, best known for its matzo and kosher wine. Founded in 1888, it became a public corporation in 1923 and remained under family control until January 199 ...

and Mother's, two of the largest kosher margarine brands, were only able to provide limited amounts to the marketplace, which were often not in the popular stick form.

Impact

The margarine shortage affected home Passover baking. Dishes which comply with Passover rules are often somewhat lacking in taste, and for this reason margarine is a key ingredient in many Passover recipes. Often, no substitute is available. Since the laws of

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

mandate the separation of milk and meat, margarine is an important butter substitute in recipes that are served with meat meals. Some of the recipes that require large amounts of margarine include Passover desserts, such as cookies. Many stores

rationed Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

the sales of margarine to customers by limiting the number of cases of margarine that could be purchased, and some stores required a minimum number of other items to be purchased. Haolam, a large manufacturer of kosher cheeses, was able to produce margarine for Passover to meet some of the demands.

Other scarce items

In addition to margarine,

matzo Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' (leaven and ...

was also in short supply for the 2008 Passover season, as were the Tam Tam matzo crackers manufactured by

. Possible reasons for the matzo shortage included business decisions by the

Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California ...

and

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

chains not to stock matzo for 2008, and manufacturing problems at Manischewitz that forced the company to withhold Tam Tams for the year, and to produce less matzo and none of the more strictly made shmurah matzo preferred by many traditional Jews.

References

{{reflist, 2

Margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

Jewish-American history 2008 in the United States Margarine Scarcity