The 20 great Rosh Hashanah marketing campaigns below run from Maxwell House’s 1950s Jewish newspaper greetings to Apple Music’s 2021 playlists from Israeli artists. The strongest share one trait: a real product, service or community partner sits behind the holiday message. Pew Research Center counted about 7.5 million Jewish Americans in 2020, which is the audience these brands are courting.
Edited on October 19, 2026.
What are the main takeaways from these 20 campaigns?
The 20 campaigns show that Rosh Hashanah marketing works best when the brand gives hosts something usable for the holiday table.
- Product comes first: new kosher lines, holiday menus and imprinted apples gave the greeting something real to attach to.
- Jewish voices add credibility: cookbook author Joan Nathan, Kosher.com chefs and Israeli musicians carried the message.
- Convenience sells the meal: catering, delivery and national shipping take work off the host.
- Small acts of giving stand out: food relief and charity donations turned a promotion into a contribution.
How were these 20 campaigns chosen?
Each entry rests on a named source such as a company release, a retailer page, a trade publication or a newspaper archive. The list covers 1953 to 2025 and brands in the United States and Australia. It favors campaigns where the holiday message came with a real product, partner or service.
What makes a Rosh Hashanah marketing campaign great?
A great Rosh Hashanah marketing campaign puts a real product, a specific Jewish tradition and a useful service behind the greeting. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, and the foods of the holiday, such as apples dipped in honey, give brands concrete material to work with.
The audience is broad. Pew’s 2020 survey of 4,718 Jewish adults found that many take part in both traditional practices and cultural activities, such as making latkes or reading Jewish news online. A recipe, a playlist or a ready meal can reach observant and cultural celebrants alike.
| Pattern |
What it looks like |
Campaigns on this list |
| A real product behind the message |
New kosher lines, holiday menus, imprinted apples |
Kosher Valley, ShopRite, Kayco, Fun to Eat Fruit |
| Jewish voices and partners |
Joan Nathan recipes, Israeli artist playlists, Kosher.com chefs |
Whole Foods Market, Apple Music, Kayco |
| Convenience for hosts |
Prepared meals, delivery, national shipping |
FreshDirect, Goldbelly, Katz’s Deli, Kenny & Ziggy’s |
| Education and giving back |
Holiday explainers, food relief, charity donations |
Costco, Woolworths, Fun to Eat Fruit |
| Specific, respectful detail |
Biblical quotations, a named synagogue in the artwork |
Maxwell House, Ford |
Which early brands set the Rosh Hashanah advertising playbook?
Maxwell House, Ford, Kroger and ShopRite set the early playbook by advertising directly to Jewish customers in Jewish newspapers and circulars. The Forward’s history of the practice notes that by the late 1940s national brands were placing High Holiday greetings in Jewish publications to build a relationship with the community.
1. Maxwell House: Tanakh greetings in Jewish papers
Maxwell House ran Rosh Hashanah greetings in Jewish newspapers that quoted lesser-known books of the Hebrew Bible. Its 1953 ad in the B’nai B’rith Messenger drew on the prophet Amos, and later greetings featured Ezra in 1967 and Samuel in 1970, according to the Forward’s history of Rosh Hashanah ads. Historian Kerri Steinberg told the Forward the campaign aimed to brand the coffee as a “taste of tradition” for Jewish families.
2. Ford: A Psalm and a synagogue photo
Ford paired scripture with a modern image in its Rosh Hashanah greetings. Its 1965 greeting in Chicago’s The Sentinel quoted the Book of Psalms and showed Congregation Shaarey Zedek, a synagogue completed in Southfield, Michigan, in 1962. Steinberg told the Forward that the new building likely spoke to younger readers and the Psalm to older ones.
3. Kroger: Holiday ads in the Jewish press
Kroger advertised kosher and traditional holiday foods in the Detroit Jewish News in 2007 and again in 2012. The 2007 ad listed Empire Kosher turkeys, Kroger honey and Manischewitz gefilte fish, and the 2012 ad promised more variety than ever for kosher essentials.
4. ShopRite: A private label born on Rosh Hashanah
ShopRite launched a private-label kosher line with Rosh Hashanah products. The Orthodox Union’s profile of the program says the ShopRite Kosher brand debuted in 2005 with challah and challah rolls for the holiday, then added matzot for Passover. The profile also lists kosher pages in the weekly circular, in-store advertising and a Jewish calendar as marketing support.
Which grocers and retailers run the strongest High Holiday programs?
Grocers and retailers run the strongest High Holiday programs when they add products, partners and promotions together. The five programs below range from a celebrity-cookbook menu in the Mid-Atlantic to a kosher aisle expansion in Australia.
5. Whole Foods Market: Joan Nathan’s High Holiday menu
Whole Foods Market built a Mid-Atlantic High Holiday menu around cookbook author Joan Nathan’s recipes. According to the company’s release, five dishes from her book King Solomon’s Table appeared on hot bars and in prepared foods and bakery cases from September 13 through 27, alongside printed recipe cards. Online orders over $100 for Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur came with a free copy of the cookbook.
6. Giant Food: A bigger kosher aisle in Baltimore
Giant Food expanded its kosher selection at about 150 Baltimore-area stores for Rosh Hashanah 2020. Progressive Grocer reported that the chain worked with kosher distributors Kayco and A&L Foods, began promotional pricing in late August and set up holiday displays.
7. Costco: A holiday explainer for members
Costco explained Rosh Hashanah to its members in the Costco Connection magazine. The September 2022 issue described the start of the year 5783, gave the holiday’s dates of September 25 to 27 and tied apples dipped in honey to the hope for a sweet year. The Nosher at My Jewish Learning listed honey, pomegranates and noodle kugel among the staples in Costco warehouses.
8. Woolworths: Kosher range plus food relief
Woolworths in Australia expanded its kosher range and marked Rosh Hashanah with in-store specials. Kosher specialist Yosi Barukh said in the retailer’s 2023 post that Woolworths had almost doubled its kosher products in a couple of years. The Australian Jewish News reported that Sydney stores also collected food for the charity Our Big Kitchen.
9. FreshDirect: Holiday meals at the door
FreshDirect, the New York e-grocer, sold Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur meal packages delivered to the door. Progressive Grocer’s roundup of grocers preparing for the autumn holidays listed rotisserie chickens, braised brisket with gravy and a standing rib roast among the entrees.
Which food and drink brands lead Rosh Hashanah marketing?
Kosher food and drink brands lead Rosh Hashanah marketing because the holiday is a main sales season for them. The four campaigns below combine new products with recipes, education and Israeli provenance.
10. Kayco: New products and Kosher.com recipes
Kayco, the kosher food company whose brands include Manischewitz and Gefen, paired new holiday products with recipes on Kosher.com. Its September 2022 release featured Manischewitz Apple Butter, Heaven & Earth date syrup and a Gefen apple cake, plus Kosher.com guides on using apple butter and honey.
11. Royal Wine Corp.: Israeli wines for the table
Royal Wine Corp. promoted a lineup of Israeli kosher wines for Rosh Hashanah 2025. Its August 11, 2025 release featured wineries from the Golan Heights to the Negev, including the Chateau Golan Naveh label and Kamisa Winery. Gabriel Geller, the company’s director of public relations, tied the wines to the land where Jewish traditions began.
12. Kosher Valley: A kosher poultry launch
Hain Celestial launched its Kosher Valley poultry brand at Whole Foods Market in time for the High Holy Days. J. Weekly reported in September 2009 that the line carried Orthodox Union certification and was one of the first antibiotic-free kosher lines in the United States.
13. Zingerman’s: Honey cakes and round challah
Zingerman’s, the Michigan deli and mail-order food business, treats Rosh Hashanah as a baking season. My Jewish Learning’s Rosh Hashanah gift guide notes that it bakes its own honey cakes, round challahs, mandelbrot and rugelach and sells gourmet honeys from around the world.
Which delis and gift shippers sell the holiday online?
Goldbelly, Russ & Daughters, Zabar’s, Katz’s Deli and Kenny & Ziggy’s sell Rosh Hashanah meals and gifts online, which lets families far from a Jewish deli host the same holiday table. National shipping turns a neighborhood institution into a holiday option for the whole country.
14. Goldbelly: A national High Holiday shop
Goldbelly gathered Jewish deli and bakery feasts into a nationwide High Holidays shop. Its High Holidays guide separates Rosh Hashanah feasts, which it describes as traditionally meat meals, from the dairy Break-the-Fast meal for Yom Kippur.
15. Russ & Daughters: A Sweet New Year gift pack
Russ & Daughters, the family-owned Lower East Side appetizing shop, sells a Sweet New Year Rosh Hashanah gift pack through Goldbelly. The gift pack page says the pack ships in an insulated Russ & Daughters tote with free shipping.
16. Zabar’s: A New York holiday table by mail
Zabar’s ships its High Holiday food nationally through Goldbelly. Kveller’s guide to ordering a Rosh Hashanah meal online points to the New York institution’s high holiday meal and a gift crate of Rosh Hashanah desserts.
17. Katz’s Deli: The High Holidays box
Katz’s Delicatessen makes the High Holidays one stop in a year-round box program. Its seasonal subscription assigns a different package to each month, and the September High Holidays package centers on a traditional Rosh Hashanah dinner. The structure turns one holiday into a recurring relationship with the customer.
18. Kenny & Ziggy’s: A Texas deli dinner
Kenny & Ziggy’s, a Houston deli, ships a Rosh Hashanah dinner for four to six people across the United States through Goldbelly. The dinner package includes chicken soup, matzo balls, chopped liver, tzimmes, chocolate babka and rugelach, with a choice of brisket or stuffed cabbage.
Which digital and novelty ideas stand out?
Apple Music and Fun to Eat Fruit stand out because each found a new way to put the holiday in front of people. One used music and the other used the apple itself.
19. Apple Music: Playlists from Israeli artists
Apple Music marked the Jewish year 5782 with playlists from six Israeli artists in August 2021. The Algemeiner reported that Omer Adam, Noa Kirel, Ella Lee, Miri Mesika, Ravid Plotnik and Berry Sakharof each chose 14 to 25 Israeli songs that made their year, and a separate playlist spotlighted rising Israeli talent.
20. Fun to Eat Fruit: Star of David apples
Fun to Eat Fruit sold apples imprinted with a Star of David and Rosh Hashanah greetings, with a portion of proceeds going to the hunger-relief group Mazon. The St. Louis Jewish Light reported in 2016 that the designs used kosher, food-grade ingredients and cost $18 a dozen.
What should brands do before their next Rosh Hashanah campaign?
Brands should start with the product, bring in Jewish voices, make the meal easy and give something back. The 20 campaigns above point to four steps.
- Start with a product or service that already fits the holiday, as Kosher Valley and ShopRite did.
- Bring in Jewish voices, as Whole Foods Market did with Joan Nathan and Apple Music did with Israeli artists.
- Make the meal easy to order, as Goldbelly, Katz’s Deli and Kenny & Ziggy’s do.
- Give something back, as Woolworths and Fun to Eat Fruit did.
The campaigns differ in size and era, but each hands a host something usable for the table: a recipe, a menu, a playlist or a shipped dinner. That usefulness, more than the greeting itself, is what lasts.
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