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Savannah’s Byrd Cookie Co., baking “Byrd’s Famous Cookies” since 1924 for locals and consumers around the world, has received kosher certification for its entire line of cookies from the Orthodox Union, the world’s largest and most respected kosher certification agency.
“This endorsement is a long time coming,” said company president Geoff Repella. “Using kosher and all-natural products has always been important to us. This process will formalize our efforts.”
Since its founding by Benjamin Tillman Byrd, Sr., Byrd Cookies is in its fourth generation of family ownership and has expanded its sales not only to regional merchants, but also to six continents.
Repella said certification by the Orthodox Union is a welcome addition.
The first cookie to be certified was Byrd’s Original Scotch Oatmeal, but all of the firm’s products — Key Lime, Ginger Snaps, Lemon & Butter, Peach, Chocolate and Chocolate Chip — baked in 2014 will bear the Orthodox Union’s “OU” symbol on the package.
Byrd Cookies made a strategic move in 2011 when Stephanie Lindley, the granddaughter of second-generation company leader Benjamin Tillman Byrd, Jr. took the helm as CEO and signed deals to distribute cookies to Fortune 500 companies such as Nieman-Marcus and Delta. Lindley also revamped the company’s store at 6700 Waters Ave. and opened a new store in City Market.
In late 2013, Lindley opened BT Byrd’s in Drayton Tower.
In December 2013, Rabbi Norman Schloss, the Orthodox Union’s kosher rabbinic field representative for the southern region, visited Byrd’s Savannah bakery for a final inspection and verification to assure that kosher standards and policies were in place.
The certification is the culmination of documentation, ingredient sourcing, as well as kosherization of all ovens and baking equipment.
“It was truly a pleasure assisting this renowned Savannah institution into the ever-growing OU family of baking companies,” Schloss said. “Byrd Cookie Co. well understands the value of maintaining long-standing traditions intact and is proud of its new association with the OU. Attaining OU certification is a source of great pride and satisfaction for the company.”
