Something wasn’t quite right about the chicken soup.
The team at Manischewitz had gathered in the test kitchen at the company’s headquarters in Bayonne, N.J., last year to taste the latest version of one of their new offerings. But it wasn’t hitting the notes they were aiming for.
“We were tasting it against our grandparents’ and saying, ‘No, that’s not it; it’s just not like our Friday night chicken soup,’” said Shani Seidman, the chief marketing officer for Kayco, which owns Manischewitz.
More vegetables. More chicken. A little salt.
“A lot of times you think of improvement and innovation as extra or modern,” Ms. Seidman said in an interview this month. “But we’re going back to go forward.”
And chicken soup is only the start of it. Would your bubbe like a side of merch with that gefilte fish?
Manischewitz, the 136-year-old brand that has been a staple in American Jewish households for generations, is looking to go beyond Passover, which begins on Monday evening, with a top-to-bottom rebranding and an expansion of its product range.
Cans are out. Resealable bags are in. New products include grapeseed oil; frozen, gluten-free knishes and frozen matzo balls (don’t tell your mother!).
