Editor's Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly described Seattle Kosher's delivery practices. 

Sourcing kosher food in Portland, already a challenge, just got that much harder.

Seattle Kosher announced in a May 31 email to customers that it was ending its retail delivery service, which provided local delivery for a variety of kosher products that were otherwise difficult or impossible to find in the Portland area.

“Over the past eight years, the kosher-consuming population in the Pacific Northwest has declined. This shift, combined with rising costs for housing and a 40 percent increase in grocery prices over the last decade, has created significant challenges. Kosher-specific items like beef, poultry, and cheese have seen even steeper increases,” Seattle Kosher owner Phillip Klitzner said in the email. “As consumer habits have shifted toward bulk delivery and 'cherry-picking' individual sale items, the full-cart model necessary to maintain a sustainable retail operation is no longer viable.”

Emails to Seattle Kosher from The Jewish Review received no response as of press time.

Seattle Kosher’s sister operation, Pacific Northwest Kosher, will continue serving customers ordering wholesale quantities, such as nonprofits and caterers like Portland’s Century Catering.

“It really impacts me very slightly,” Century’s proprietor, Alan Levine, said. “Now there’s a few small things that I won’t be able to get from them.”

Levine also pointed out that Pacific Northwest Kosher is the vendor for kosher foods sold at the Safeway on Portland’s Southwest Barbur Boulevard and other outlets – a practice which will be continuing.

“It’s really going to affect the people that were ordering one or two things. They’re going to have to come to Safeway and pay them [more],” Levine noted.

Another alternative is Kansas City-based KC Kosher Coop. Rabbi Yossi Daitchman helps coordinate the company’s seven annual deliveries to Portland. The Rose City is one of more than 20 communities nationwide that receive deliveries from KC Kosher Coop – Portland used to participate in five of the seven annual dates but recently opted in to the other two due to local demand, he said.

However, products must be ordered by the case, and ordering deadlines are typically a month prior to delivery. The order deadline for KC Kosher Coop’s June 25 delivery was yesterday, Rabbi Daitchman said, and the next order must be placed by July 29 for delivery on Aug. 27 – items are picked up on delivery day at Congregation Kesser Israel, usually between 6 pm and 7 pm, though there can be delays if, for example, the delivery truck gets stuck in traffic. Rabbi Daitchman said there’s a WhatsApp group and a collection of spreadsheets he helps maintain to enable multiple buyers to coordinate splitting up a case of something they need but not in such a large quantity.

“You’re often ordering things three, four weeks before you get it. For the Passover order, you have to order before Purim,” he said. “The flip side is that then you’re able to get bulk items, bulk pricing and some foods that are not necessarily easily accessible in Portland, aside from flying to New York and bringing something back in a suitcase.”

Planning that far ahead isn’t workable for some folks like Shulamit Urenia, the owner of Kashrootz Catering in Portland.

“It’s going to be a barrier to have access to kosher food,” she said of Seattle Kosher’s termination of delivery service. “Safeway has been great and I’m really grateful for that option. However, it’s limited for bulk purchasing, and it’s not always reliable in the sense of having consistent product in.”

She’s also developed good relationships with the management of the Trader Joe’s on Southwest Garden Home Road in Portland, and with the staff of Barbur World Foods. However, Portland’s limited options will mean Urenia will need to drive to Seattle more frequently for certain items – a three-hour drive made more frustrating by gas prices that continue to exceed $5 per gallon.

“That’s something you just have to budget in your catering, she said. “Everything just kind of adds up. But I still will try to offer the best rates that I can so people can also keep kosher and enjoy a nice meal.”

For more information on ordering from KC Kosher Coop in Portland, email Rabbi Daitchman at [email protected].