Empty Stop & Shop In Howell To Be Filled By Kosher Supermarket: Report

HOWELL, NJ — The Stop & Shop supermarket that shut down in October may not be closed for long: a kosher supermarket is slated to fill the space, according to a report.

Moisha’s Supermarket, a kosher grocer based in Brooklyn, is set to come to the Lanes Mill Marketplace on Route 9, NJ.com reported. It will fill the 66,441-square-foot store that had been occupied by Stop & Shop since 2005.

It will be one of two new kosher supermarkets filling former Stop & Shop's in the area. The second, Gourmet Glatt, will be opening at the former Stop & Shop at Bennetts Mills Plaza in Jackson, Kristen Moore, a spokesperson for Brixmor Property Group confirmed to Patch.

Anticipated opening dates were not available.

Kosher supermarkets adhere to the customs of the Jewish community, said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the chief operating officer of Orthodox Union Kosher, a firm that certifies foods and food preparation meet kosher requirements. That means anything sold must be kosher-certified, he said.

Under kosher requirements, meat and dairy must be kept separate, and they cannot be prepared on the same equipment. In a grocery store, that means there are separate slicers used for slicing deli meats and cheeses, and those areas are separated, Elefant said.

Pork is not permitted, so there will be no ham, no bacon or other pork-based items. Shellfish also is not kosher, so there will be no shrimp, lobster, clams or scallops. The only fish permitted are fish with fins and scales, Elefant said.

In the bakery, items made with dairy are separated from items called "pareve," which he said is Yiddish for neutral, meaning they are not made with meat or dairy.

Elefant said there will be plenty of products that will be familiar to shoppers who are not Jewish. The major cereal brands — Kellogg's and General Mills, for example — are certified as kosher.

"A person who is not keeping kosher is not going to pay attention to how many products are kosher-certified," he said.

For takeout foods, items prepared with meat are kept separate from items prepared with dairy, and they are prepared on separate equipment.

Kosher supermarkets have a rabbi on site supervising everything to ensure kosher rules are followed.

The Moisha's website says its butchers "take pride in offering a wide variety of premium, organic, natural, and hormone-free meats and poultry. Standout cuts include certified Wagyu and Black Angus." It offers a wide range of other items from soups to produce to snacks.

Gourmet Glatt, which has a location in Lakewood, offers a wide range of items from meat and poultry to snacks and more.