America’s third-largest kosher beef slaughterhouse has halted production because of a fire several months ago.
North Star Beef in Buffalo Lake, Minn., which sells its meat under the Alle label, had to stop slaughtering Monday and Tuesday due to a fire in June that damaged the area where the meat is soaked and salted, the Forward reported Tuesday. Production had ceased for two weeks following the fire.
The company is waiting for its insurance company to settle a $3 million business interruption claim.
North Star Beef CEO Bill Gilger told the Forward that slaughtering should restart Wednesday.
The break in production will contribute to a shortage of beef throughout America after the largest kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, halted production last week due to legal problems. Agriprocessors’ slaughterhouse in Gordon, Neb., the fifth largest in the United States, shut down in October.
“Whatever it is, there’s going to be a tremendous void in the market,” Rabbi Menachem Genack, the head of kosher supervision for the Orthodox Union, told the Forward.
