Aron Streit, Inc. (sold under the name Streit's) is a

kosher (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, ), from the Ashke ...

food company founded in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City, best known for its

matzo Matzo is a spelling variant for matzah Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashk. matzos) is an Unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover ...

. It is the only family-owned and operated matzo company in the United States, and distributes matzo in select international markets. Streit's and its major competitor,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

–based

Manischewitz Manischewitz (; ) is a brand of kosher products founded in 1888 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and best known for its Matzah, matzo and kosher wine. It became a public corporation in 1923 but remained under family control until January 1991, when it was ...

, together hold about 40 percent of the US matzo market. The factory follows strict kosher laws. Only shomer Shabbat (

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

-observing) Jews are allowed to touch the dough. However, once the dough is baked, people of any religion and non-shomer Shabbat Jews are allowed to touch the matzo. The entire process of making the matzo is under Rabbinic supervision. During

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

, Jews are not allowed to eat leavened bread, so the dough must be baked within 18 minutes before it has had time to rise. If the dough sits for longer than this, it is considered

chametz ''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings Transliteration, transliterated from ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover. ''Chametz'' is a product that is b ...

– no longer

for Passover – and must be discarded.

History

The company was founded in 1916 by Aron Streit, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

who had made matzo there in the late 1800s. Its first factory was on Pitt Street on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. There, Streit and his business associate

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Weinberger made each piece of matzo by hand. In 1925, with the growing number of Jewish immigrants congregating on the Lower East Side, Streit, along with his two sons, Jack and Irving, moved his business to nearby 150

Rivington Street Rivington Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which runs across the Lower East Side neighborhood, between the Bowery and Pitt Street, with a break between Chrystie and Forsyth for Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Vehicular t ...

. Soon thereafter they bought the adjacent buildings, where the company operated for 90 years, before moving in 2015.

Lower East Side factory

Streit's matzo factory, along with Katz's Delicatessen and Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery, was a surviving piece of the Lower East Side's Jewish heritage. At the turn of the 20th century, Jews, along with other European immigrants, were crammed into the many unsanitary tenements of the Lower East Side. In 1915 they made up 60 percent of the Lower East Side population. Because of the large Jewish presence, Jewish-centric businesses like Streit's opened and flourished. However, because of the poor living conditions, as soon as they financially could, many Jewish families moved out of the tenements to other areas in New York City, namely uptown and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, slowly making Streit's a relic of the past. Streit's Lower East Side matzo factory usually baked about of matzo each day. In preparation for

the factory ran 20 hours a day, testing its per day capacity.

New factory

Since the 1980s the Lower East Side has experienced hyper-

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

. The neighborhood is now a burgeoning area with rising rents. The Streit family even considered at one point opening a café or bar that serves matzo, to go with the Lower East Side's new nightlife scene. On December 20, 2007, it was announced that the factory had been listed for sale for $25 million. The Streit's family cited noise complaints, congested streets, and their desire to modernize its equipment as the reasons for their eventual move. Its realtor, Massey Knakel Realty Services, commented "the building will most likely be torn down and converted into luxury condominiums." Midtown East-based Cogswell Realty bought the factory for $30.5 million in 2015. Cogswell closed on the properties, which together span roughly 50,000 square feet, in May 2015.From matzos to condos: LES project rising at 150 Rivington
The Real Deal. April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016. Cogswell Lee Development and Gluck+, which is also the project's architect, are developing the condo building, and plan to festoon the lobby with Streit's memorabilia The new Streit's factory at 171 Route 303, Orangeburg, New York, replaced the factory in Manhattan and warehouse and dry pack facility in Moonachie, New Jersey. Bag-and-box mixes like the matzo ball and soup mix, potato pancake mix, and most of the other side items had been made in New Jersey for years.It’s Official: Streit’s Matzo is now in Rockland County
''Rockland County Times''. Rosman, Janie. October 1, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2016.

Products

Besides matzo, Streit's produces many other kosher products under its name. They also operate a separate label of foods called Ethnic Delights, which is mainly

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

s and

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Salt may ...

References

External links