The Story of a Cracker: The Great Matzah Famine of 2008 is Latest S.F. Unleavened Shenanigan
Now is the Passover of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of Manischewitz.
By Joe Eskenazi
As you may have read here on The Snitch — and, mind-blowingly, in the Chronicle and Contra Costa Times as well — this year it has been next to impossible for Bay Area Jews to obtain matzah, the oversized, under-tasty unleavened crackers central to the holiday of Passover.
For frantic last-minute shoppers, this was a most unpleasant surprise. But it shouldn’t have been. The Bay Area matzah market has undergone more permutations than Oprah’s weight. This is just the latest matzah crunch.
A dozen years ago, the matzah wind was blowing differently. There was plenty to be had — but no one could afford it. A five-pound box of the crackers could cost as much as $19.99. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles and New York, Jews were happily buying their matzah for two bucks a pound.
"It's the forces of capitalism," explained kosher distributor Robert Sosnick at the time. "You're dealing with a marketplace down there of more than 1 million Jews. You have big chains in heavy Jewish neighborhoods. A million potential consumers is a big drawing card.
"You really don't have a Jewish neighborhood in San Francisco."
In 2001, the Bay Area matzah market was rocked once again — but in a way consumers could enjoy (with horseradish, possibly). Suddenly those $20 boxes of crackers could be obtained for as little as five bucks.
How? That can be answered in one word: Costco.
The wholesale giant began stocking up on the Bread of Affliction by the container-full — and a container is 40 feet long, 10 feet wide and 12 feet high.
Of course, the consumers’ gain was the supermarket and shopkeepers' loss. The matzah they bought at high cost and sold at astronomical costs suddenly lost 75 percent of its value. In many instances, merchants literally couldn’t give the stuff away.
Fast-forwarding to the present day, Costco deduced that, quite possibly, hawking matzah for a buck a pound was not a money-maker and abruptly opted not to stock any in the Bay Area. While the Chronicle’s Matthai Kuruvila creatively speculates that “a jubilee year in Israel when some fields lie fallow” or “increased Jewish observance” may explain the shortage — and let’s give him an Aleph for Effort — I think the explanation lies closer to home.
With local retailers anticipating Costco selling boatloads of matzah at prices they could never hope to match, they stocked at normal low levels apropos for a smattering of kosher consumers. But with Costco out of the game, smaller stores sold out quickly and last-minute shoppers were up the creek (anecdotally, stories abounded of luckless Jews traipsing to a dozen or so stores in search of a box of matzah. And, believe you me, some gouging occurred: One lady told me that the five-pound box that was $11.99 when she called a San Francisco store on the phone was suddenly $14.99 when she got there).
For those who traditionally eat matzah in the place of bread during the Passover holiday (which ends Sunday, April 27), these are the times that try Jews’ souls. After all, how many potatoes and incredibly fatty kosher macaroons can you stand?
Hopefully the Bay Area will avoid this odd situation next year. But, if not, there’s always the line that concludes every Passover celebration: “Next year in Jerusalem!”
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