A beloved Baltimore ice cream manufacturer recently received kosher certification for several of its flavors, allowing them to be enjoyed by a larger audience than ever before.
Taharka Brothers, a company that owns four local scoop shops and sells ice cream in 99 Maryland-based stores, restaurants, schools and hotels, had nine of its flavors officially certified kosher by Star-K Kosher Certification.
It’s great news for Jewish fans of Taharka Brothers, which also recently received the Best of Jewish Baltimore award for Best Ice Cream.
The flavors certified kosher are vanilla (both dairy and non-dairy variants), caramel crunch, cookie dough, cookies and coffee, key lime, mint chocolate chip and honey graham — the latter of which co-founder Sean Smeeton cites as Taharka Brothers’ most popular flavor.
Chief Strategy Officer Andrew Buerger explained that it was Taharka Brothers’ priority to get their most popular flavors kosher certified.
“We feel getting the certification is a very good thing for us. Baltimore’s Jewish community is a large, vibrant and active one. And, it’s centralized,” Buerger said.
He added that Jupiter’s, an ice cream shop in Mount Washington, is his recommendation for people who want to try locally made kosher ice cream.
“The kosher symbol on our ice cream is also a symbol that even during these tense times and opinions in the Middle East, we’re working together to build social change in Baltimore,” Buerger said. “It’s a symbol of mutual cooperation and respect here in Baltimore from our Black-owned business.”
