In a somewhat surprising change from previous years, the Pesach Products Committee (PPC) has reported that orders and revenues are lower than usual. Stationed in the basement of Morgenstern Hall, the PPC offers students, faculty, and members of other communities hand-baked shmurah matzoh at relatively low prices. The matzoh, which is purchased from the Charedim Matzoh Bakery in Boro Park and is shipped to Yeshiva for pick-up, is then sold for a "suggested donation" (a.k.a "price") of twelve dollars a pound; all money which is taken in as profit is used to purchase food and other necessities for sedarim for poor people in the New York area.
Last year, the Matzoh Bakery burned down two weeks before Pesach. Although the factory was rebuilt in time for the holiday, the PPC was forced to cancel all of its orders. This year, as the result of only one hundred orders, the PPC took in over $12,000. However, according to the PPC staff, these numbers are actually well below average.
One possible reason for the lower revenues could be poor advertising, leading to the smaller number of orders which the PPC received from students. Only about sixty orders came in from the student body this year, and much of the student body could not even identify the meaning behind the letters 'PPC.'
Quality, however, is clearly not the reason for the decrease in orders. The PPC staff claims that the only complaints which they have received concern cracked or burnt matzoh, but such claims are expected and unavoidable. Most students, indeed, are satisfied with their purchases. As one YC sophomore put it, "I don't think I've ever received a cracked matzoh from the PPC; they sell quality products every year." Other students were even enthusiastic about the matzoh that they bought. "I eat the Matzoh all year…I love my Charedim with cream cheese," proclaimed YC sophomore Hillel Tuchman.