Matthew L.
Yelp
Streit's Matzos is a kosher food company that opened in Manhattan, New York in 1925. It was founded by Austrian-Jewish immigrant Aron Streit. Streit and his wife Nettie immigrated to New York City in the 1890s. He had some experience as a matzo baker in his native Austria. Streit eventually went into business with a Rabbi Weinberger and in 1916 they opened a handmade matzo factory called Weinberger-Streit Matzo Bakery at 65 Pitt Street. At that point in time, New York City's Lower East Side had an enormous Jewish immigrant population. By 1925, Streit opened Streit's Matzos: a modern machine matzo bakery on the ground floor of a Rivington Street tenement building. As time went on, Streit's would eventually convert the entire tenement building as well as the three surrounding buildings into the matzo factory. The factory's busiest time of year was during the Jewish festival of Passover, when the loading area was essentially transformed into a local retail bakery with long lines of Jewish consumers stretching down the street. Aron's sons Irving and Jack would eventually take over and run the factory for several decades. Aron Streit passed away in 1937.
Today the company is owned by Aron's great-grandsons Alan Adler, Aron Yagoda, and great-great-grandson Aaron Gross. For several years, all of America's matzos were produced by four Greater New York area companies: Streit's, Manischewitz, Horowitz Margareten, and Goodman's. The latter two were bought out by Manischewitz which in turn was bought out by a private equity company in 1990. Streit's is the last family-owned matzo company. By the 21st century, the Rivington Street factory had become a 'white elephant'. Most of the Jewish businesses and families had moved away and Streit's was the last holdout. It was no longer practical to have a business in New York's Lower East Side, let alone a national wholesale bakery.
Aging machinery, foreign competition, and the challenges of manufacturing in New York City eventually took a toll on Streit's. In January 5th, 2015, faced with no other viable option, the Streit family announced to their workers that after 90 years they would be permanently ceasing operations at the factory after the coming Passover. A new state-of-the-art factory would be built in Orangeburg, New York. Until the new factory was built, all workers were offered temporary employment at the Streit's warehouse and macaroon bakery in Moonachie, New Jersey. The old factory was demolished and replaced with condominiums. The new factory opened in time for Passover 2017.
Streit's is easily my favorite matzo brand. Many other brands of matzo break too easily; sometimes they are even broken when I open the box. Streit's matzos are much more durable and they taste better too. Some people think that the secret to their great taste is using New York City tap water in the dough. For nearly 100 years, the Streit family has been committed to quality, efficiency, excellence, tradition, and family. In addition to their excellent Passover and year-round matzo products, Streit's also produces noodles, soup mixes, potato products, cake mixes, macaroons and cookies. Matzo is actually one of my favorite snacks! I don't just eat it for Passover, I eat it year-round! My favorite variety of Streit's matzo is their Mediterranean Matzo: made with sundried tomatoes, garlic, basil and pure olive oil. If you're looking for a quality matzo to put on your seder table for Passover, make it Streit's!
