Jonathan Kamens wrote:

> I think they're wrong about the increased price, but even if they
> weren't, they're right about the rest of it.

If the manufacturer was able to sell the same volume, with or without
the kosher certification, they'd be right. They are wrong because in
reality the kosher certification results in much higher volumes of
sales, especially to non-Jews that try to buy kosher products for
non-religious reasons.

> And, as others have pointed out, if you don't want to buy kosher
> products, you don't have to.

It actually can be difficult. Most manufacturers certify every possible
product as kosher because it's more profitable to do so. You might find
some certified organic products that feel that additional certification
is unnecessary, and that even most non-super orthodox Jews that keep
nominally kosher will accept the organic certification as good enough,
at least on non-meat products.