‘Life goes on’ for Jeff Shull

NICOLA MILTZ

Stan & Pete – the decades’-old premier kosher catering company, is no longer, but this has not stopped this businessman from doing what he does best: catering for lavish functions on a grand scale.

Shull has recently opened a new, non-kosher catering business called Salt and Peppa Catering.

The company was featured prominently in the April 1 edition of City Press with a write-up about a sumptuous cocktail party for Princess Michael of Kent. The function – the company’s first since opening – took place at the opulent Sandhurst home of his brother-in-law, the global defence and aerospace mogul, Ivor Ichikowitz.

A recently created Facebook page advertises the launch of Salt and Peppa’s new venue in the heart of Sandhurst. A post last Friday at 09:29 said: “A predominantly outdoors venue with breathtaking views of Birdsview, a private four-acre garden.” It also said it is “a venue like no other”.

The post was shared nine times and received 10 “Likes”. Shull will make use of the property’s industrial-size kitchen.

Ichikowitz’s palatial residence boasts vast, immaculate grounds overlooking Sandton. Life-like sculptures adorn the lawns and there’s a pool with a deck and a boma.

Under the ironic headline, “A cheetah’s affair with the princess”, City Press reported that Salt and Peppa Catering had laid out a spread “fit for royalty”. The Sandhurst event signalled the official launch of Princess Michael’s new book, A Cheetah’s Tale, in which she writes of her love for the big cat, her efforts to prevent it from becoming extinct and her campaign to raise awareness of wildlife conservation.

Shull’s reputation has been dragged through the mud after a batch of treif chickens were found in the kitchen of his kosher establishment in Orange Grove, Johannesburg on February 28. The Beth Din discovered the chickens after a tip-off several months prior to the discovery, and immediately withdrew Shull’s kosher licence.

While Shull remains consistently shtum (silent) over the incident, denying his involvement, the community has been left reeling from the shock discovery, desperate for answers as to how this could have happened in the first place.

Industry insiders say Shull apparently has countless unpaid debts and owes several kosher food suppliers a lot of money, some saying well into the tens of thousands.

One kosher supplier who wished to remain anonymous told SA Jewish Report this week that he had been nagging Shull for payment for goods delivered for several months prior to the discovery of the treif chickens.

It is believed that Shull told some of his suppliers to expect a call from liquidators. However, Shull vehemently denied this when he spoke to SA Jewish Report this week.

“Stan & Pete has closed down. It is no longer trading. I haven’t applied for liquidation. I have bills to pay, staff to pay; life goes on,” he said.

Shull has been hard at work trying to attract new customers for his company. He has told function co-ordinators about Salt and Peppa Catering, saying he has a “new venue for outside functions for 120 pax… stunning house”.

On Monday at 15:15, Shull posted on his Facebook page with a friendly “Hi all. We are proud to announce the launch of a new line of lunch meals. All meals are prepared fresh and delivered to your office by 12pm.” This was shared three times and received five “Likes”.

Meanwhile, the Union of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS) has appointed a new firm of attorneys to investigate the Stan & Pete incident, following concerns raised by the community about issues of impartiality and independence.

In a public letter addressed to the community this week, the UOS said that “in the interests of impartiality”, neither Professor Billy Gundelfinger nor Grant Thornton would be conducting the forensic investigation. It is believed that their close association with the Beth Din is what prompted the recent decision.

Instead, Bowmans Attorneys, which has an internal forensic department, has been tasked with getting to the bottom of the country’s biggest kosher scandal to date.

SA Jewish Report announced before Pesach that the UOS was to launch two separate investigations: a forensic investigation into what exactly happened at Stan & Pete, and a broader, expert assessment of the Beth Din’s kashrut supervision system.

According to the UOS, Bowmans has “an excellent track record” when it comes to issues relating to governance, compliance and forensic investigations.

Experienced attorney Jonathan Schlosberg, the former chairman of Bowmans, will head the investigation.

The UOS announced the terms of reference for the investigation. These include probing whether the discovery of non-kosher chickens on Wednesday, February 28 in the kitchen of one of the country’s most prominent kosher caterers was an “isolated incident”, or was “part of a pattern of wilfully bringing in non-kosher food into its kitchen”; whether any such non-kosher food was served at functions or to kosher customers; and over what period this occurred.

The investigation will attempt to establish how the kashrut supervision system of the Beth Din, with its mashgichim, inspectors and other safety measures, could have been circumvented, and will recommend how the system can be improved to prevent this kind of possible breach from occurring again in the future.

Three senior rabbinic experts appointed by the Association of Kashrus Organisations (AKO), based in the US, will arrive in South Africa next month to assess the Beth Din’s kashrut supervision systems and advise how the systems can be modernised and improved. The AKO is the international governing and accreditation body of kashrut organisations. Once again, calls from the community have been made to ensure that those sent by the AKO are independent and impartial.

The terms of reference for their independent assessment are being drawn up. According to Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein, who is chairman of the UOS, as well as chair of the UOS board Harold Novick and Rosh Beth Din Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag, the UOS will share more information on their visit and exactly who has been asked to come as soon as this is known.

“We want to assure you that we are taking the Stan & Pete incident extremely seriously, and – as can be seen in the appointment of Bowmans – are committing the highest calibre of resources to establishing how this incident could have happened, and what needs to be done to ensure that it can never happen again,” their statement read.