Question for those who COOK!

[futuresoptions]

Originally Posted by aigel

The only thing that would really make sense IMHO is to offer this to the restaurant industry as a weekly "bin fill" service, like fastener and hardware companies offer it to industry. I am not sure if you are aware of this common service - the hardware company comes by once a week and refills your fastener cabinet as a service.

G

+1000

That would be your customer base. I have been researching spices due to my new website that I have been building and what I have found is that most spices have a 36 month shelf life if kept out of direct sunlight. Even after the 36 month time period they are still okay to use, they just may loose a little of their strength.

Unless you can get people in general to believe that they need to discard their spices annually, your best bet is in catering to the restaurant industry that uses a larger amount of spices than a residential customer...

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

yes, but your supposed to toss out once a year

There are a lot of things we are supposed to do but its not done in my house.

You might have something for someone who cooks a lot and is really into it, but it would be a really tight market IMHO.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by RWebb

maybe

I am not even sure that fresh herbs or spices are always better than dried...

They have completely different uses, so they are not a substitute for each other.

I use so few dried spices I wouldn't have a need for this service. Those that I do use, I prefer to grind myself and spices last a lot longer if they are left in their original state for storage.

JR

[wdfifteen]

I might use it. I write the purchase date on every container I buy and I often find myself throwing even the little one ounce containers out because they get too old. So I have a cabinet full of spices of random ages. IF the price was right it might be nice to have them all the same age, rotated to the trash every 6 months or so. I dunno ...

[intakexhaust]

Wouldn't go for that type of service. For our household, we grow some of our own for the basics. We also avoid the name brands... absurdly jacked pricing from McCormicks and buy from an independent local grocer. They import for a fraction of the competition plus we can inspect it. Approx. 1 1/2 or 2 oz. of cardamom from McCormicks is maybe $15 and we can get four times that for $5. In reality, most of the new packaged stuff is older and the dated packaging means only when it was processed for packaging. Its immediately noticable.

Smart buyers and serious culinary type probably wouldn't go for it. Might be a nice market for designer kitchen owners who know how to press the start button on a microwave.

[drcoastline]

I think theres a market for the idea. Either because people are lazy or don't have access to fresh herbs other than from a super Market. Theres probably a market for mail order freshly picked herbs as well.

Personally I would not. I buy fresh or freshly dried spices from the Italian Market in South Philly. I go to the market for fresh produce, meat, fish, cheese twice a month. When I need spices I stop in the the spice store.

Best of luck with your idea.