Manischewitz, JScreen Partner for Genetic Screening
The old-line marketer of kosher products and the genetic testing program that utilizes the most advanced medical technology find that they share some common interests.
JScreen, the national Jewish genetic testing service, which is headquartered at Emory University, and Manischewitz, the venerable kosher brand, have joined forces on several large college campuses across the country to encourage students to enroll in the JScreen program.
The marketing effort, which was launched just prior to the start of Chanukah and the winter holiday season, offered information about the genetic screening tool along with free “Comfort Food for the Soul” packages of Manischewitz products.
This is the first time the program has teamed up with a national consumer brand in its 10-year history. According to JScreen’s Director of National Outreach and Marketing, Hillary Regelman, joining forces with the 135-year-old kosher products firm has been a win-win situation.
“We’re both tapping into the Jewish community in different but similar ways,” Regelman says. “Manischewitz is focused on family traditions, gathering families around the table, particularly during the holidays. And JScreen is focused on building healthy families and keeping our families healthy. So, to me, it makes so much sense.”
JScreen has been particularly aggressive in marketing its reproductive screening service on college campuses. With the support of donors like the Marcus Foundation, it offers to screen students for a wide range of inherited genetic disorders for a nominal fee. The cost of the test on college campuses like Emory can be as low as $18. Regular price for the test, which is still a considerable bargain, is $149. The test also includes free genetic counseling and the ability to access individual test results at any time in the future.
On JScreen college campuses like Rutgers, Cornell, Yeshiva University, NYU, and Georgetown, as well as Emory, where JScreen operates ongoing marketing programs, it’s an unprecedented opportunity to familiarize Jewish young people, no matter how assimilated they may be. Their genetic inheritance as Jews, as Regelman points out, is an unchanging part of their make-up.
“We’re particularly interested in students who maybe, don’t do Jewish stuff, They don’t go to synagogue or attend Jewish events. But when we advertise on their college campuses, they realize, well, I am Jewish. It’s in my DNA, and you can’t run away from your DNA even if you’re the most unaffiliated Jewish person.”
The most recent JScreen test analyzes a quick saliva sample for 224 genetic diseases that Jews are particularly susceptible to. They range from Gaucher Disease, which is a bone marrow disorder, and Tay-Sachs, which affects enzymes in children, to very rare conditions like Bloom Disease and Walker-Warburg Syndrome, an often fatal muscle disease.
The boost that Manischewitz is giving JScreen’s efforts among young Jews is also aimed at lifting the spirits of these same young people who are experiencing an almost unprecedented level of organized antisemitic bullying and violence on many campuses.
The chief marketing officer for Manischewitz, Shani Seidman, says that the products the company is giving away on campuses delivers an important message.
“After Oct. 7, antisemitism snowballed on campus and with everything that was happening — that we really just wanted to support Jewish students. That when they came to JScreen events and they leave, they can leave with our ‘care packages’ … something that’s comforting and maybe a taste of home, It’s something we’re really proud and honored to be part of.”
It’s also a way to reconnect with a new generation of consumers for Manischewitz, which once was a towering presence in the Jewish food marketplace.
The company was sold in 2019 after several failed attempts to revitalize the brand. The buyer was Kayco, a large family-owned marketer of dozens of familiar kosher food and beverage items, notably the Kedem kosher wine products that are widely distributed.
In the next several months, Seidman hopes to introduce a number of new products with the old Manischewitz label that may resonate with young Jewish families and the 18- to 24-year-old demographic that JScreen is also pursuing.
“We plan to take the Manischewitz brand into the modern world and engage with young people, and young families, people looking to explore Jewish culture through food.”
So, along with the matzos and macaroons, the gefilte fish and the soup, as well as all those new products, if these young Manischewitz customers pick up a JScreen test kit, all the better.
“We all know that health is a priority, and genetics and genetic health is really like, it’s the future,” Regelman says. “It’s absolutely incredible technology.”
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