Mendy Boyarsky said he is being shut out of an important part of the kosher meat market in Montreal and is considering a legal challenge to Canada’s Competition Tribunal.
He believes the Jewish Community Council of Montreal (JCC), which operates Montreal Kosher, known as MK Kosher certification, has used its dominant position in the market to squeeze out competition among meat suppliers — such as himself — and pressure local congregations to buy only MK approved kosher products.
“They don't allow competition in the market. So they're able to charge exorbitant prices,” he said.
The market he covets is sales to synagogues and banquet spaces. He is surviving on sales to shoppers who come to his store., Adelph Meats in Côte Saint-Luc, in Montreal's west end.
“There hasn't been another option other than the MK in Montreal for who knows how long,” he said.
He chose to operate outside of MK Kosher’s certification system and to use a different kosher meat certifier — Kashrut Supervision du Rabbinat (KSR).
“We have to be able to sell it to the synagogues, we have to be able to sell anywhere we want to be able to sell to,” he said.
He has support from many in the Montreal Jewish community who want to see his situation put before the Competition Tribunal, said Joshua Krane, a competition law specialist and partner at MLT Aikins in Ottawa.
