85 years later, BL brand sour cream is still tops

Four generations ago, Benjamin Lefkofsky started making sour cream in his East Liberty garage.

Over the decades, the once tiny business became a household name throughout the tristate area, and BL Sour Cream is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year.

The family-owned company has expanded and diversified with each generation. In the 1950s, BL (short for Benjamin Lefkofsky) turned its focus toward food distribution, and the company was renamed Alber and Leff Foods Co. — Leff for Lefkofsky and Alber for Elliot Alber, a partner who is no longer involved.

Lee Hurwitz, great-grandson of Benjamin Lefkofsky, is the current president. His father, Melvin Hurwitz, preceded him as president. Melvin Hurwitz died in 2008, but his wife, Roslyn, still works in the company office when she’s in town. Before Melvin Hurwitz, the president was Lee Hurwitz’s grandfather, Saul Leff.

Sour cream and French onion dip have been the most popular BL products, but the BL line also has branched out into horseradish, ricotta, mustards, tartar sauce, cheese cups and cornmeal mush. The sour cream is still made with the same ingredients Benjamin Lefkofsky used 85 years ago: cultured cream and kosher gelatin.

Lee Hurwitz joined the company in 1994. He studied communications at Ohio University and worked for KDKA and WLTJ radio stations in advertising and marketing from 199093, following sage advice to work for someone else before entering the family business.

He now employs 70 people at a Bridgeville facility, where the company relocated from the North Side in 2010 in order to expand. The company routinely adds new brands for distribution. Some of the most popular include Sabra Hummus, Naked Juice, Sparkling Ice, Fage Yogurt and, soon, Polar Seltzer Water.

“We feel like Alber and Leff is on the cutting edge of the food trends in the grocery stores. For example, kombucha was not very well known five years ago, but we now distribute four brands of kombucha, and it is a very fast growing category. We also look for up and coming brands to market and grow,” Mr. Hurwitz said.

About 70 percent of the products Alber and Leff distributes are refrigerated; the other 30 percent are shelf-stable products such as IBC Root Beer.