Done with gefilte dogs, Manischewitz launches a new look in time for Pesach

The kosher food titan is aiming for a more casual, welcoming brand

Old matzo box, <i>left</i>, meet new matzo box, <i>right</i>.

Old matzo box, left, meet new matzo box, right. Courtesy of Manischewitz

By PJ Grisar March 26, 2024

Consumers browsing the kosher aisle this Passover season may do a double take. Manischewitz, the 136-year-old kosher food titan has a fresh look, with bold red and orange accents and cartoon families noshing on matzos the size of a sheet of drywall.

The retro-chic packaging, which boasts slogans like “for the love of crunch” (on a matzo box) and “a real catch” (jarred gefilte fish) is part of a major rebrand for the company aimed at reaching a broader audience through a friendlier presentation. The font has been overhauled, with a serif crowning the A that recalls Hebrew writing. On certain items, like the kosher for Pesach potato chips, Manischewitz even has a nickname, shortened to “Mani’z” or even “M’z.”

“Manischewitz is still our brand name, but call us ‘Mani’z,’” said Shani Seidman, chief marketing officer at Manischewitz. That works for those who’ve long been acquainted with the products, named for founder Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz, but the hope is that some new customers, exploring ethnic foods, will venture into the kosher aisle. (Levy’s Rye’s iconic ads came up in discussions — even if gefilte fish may be a tougher sell to most non-Jews.)

“We knew this brand can represent and could be a gateway to Jewish culture through food,” said Seidman.

Working with marketing company Jones Knowles Ritchie, Manischewitz launched a first peek at their new look on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, showing a cartoon woman in checked pajamas lying on her stomach and lifting a bowl of soup to her face with a beatific smile, her nose upturned to savor the smell.

A spread of Manischewitz’s new look. Courtesy of Manischewitz

It’s a change of pace from Manischewitz’s more recent viral moments on social media, namely their “ads” for gefilte fish ice cream and hotdogs, the work of Joseph Jacobs Advertising.

Seidman said that those jokes taught them that there’s a humor the brand can capitalize on, but that, going forward they would “continue to embrace our food in a delicious way, as opposed to, you know, gefilte dog — is it real? Is it not?”

That embrace is embodied by a series of new characters including a gent wrapping his arms around a bowl of soup and two people holding a platter, scrambling to balance latkes that fall from the sky like manna from heaven.

“What we really were trying to do is take the stuffiness out of this brand,” said Seidman. Part of airing it out is the addition of new products, including merch like a tank top that says “Man I shvitz” and a T-shirt emblazoned with “I’m cooking my tuchus off” and a pantry staple in sprayable grape seed oil.

A look at some of the company’s new packaging. Courtesy of Manischewitz

When it comes to food (the wine is owned by a different company), Manischewitz wants to remain in the kosher aisle but make it a shopping destination rather than a grocery store ghetto. They are expanding from the shelf-stable section to the freezers. You can now try out frozen matzo balls and knishes, both regular and gluten-free (with the latter being kosher for Pesach.)

Gluten-free options may fit the Passover moment, but they also accommodate those with dietary restrictions year-round.

“Passover is like our Super Bowl,” Seidman said, but the brand wants “to become a 365 day-a-year brand for Shabbat, for every day, for Matzo Ball Mondays and Taco Tuesdays.”

PJ Grisar is a Forward culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected] and @pjgrisar on Twitter.

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