Question for those who COOK!
 

Would you pay to have a service that once a year sends out Spice packets that you could dump into your spice jars? Let's say once a year that you toss out your stale spices and get fresh spices in 4 oz packets. They would keep record of your spice choices and send out refill packs of fresh ground spices. for 1/3rd of what you would pay for it in a store.

Is this a business already in existence or a brainstorm?

Either way, certainly sounds like a neat idea....I'd probably order....

Maybe. Sounds very interesting. I say delete the thread and do some covert research.

I grow garlic, sage oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, etc. in pots in pots in my yard. If I lived in NYC, I might be interested.

Theres more to it and I hope none of you here would rip the idea off.

I wouldn't. It is really tough to predict what you'll need for the year, as the stuff I cook changes - I may do a lot more asian type cooking for a while and use up a lot of ginger and lay low on cajun food, taking it easy on the ground cayenne ...

Amazon already offers auto-refill type shipping plans on food, btw. I.e. if I order my favorite tea there, I can sign up for a plan where they send it to me in my intervals of choice. They also will give me a discount if I sign up for a shipment plan.

Hope this helps!

G

yes, but your supposed to toss out once a year

In a word, no.

When its a special occasion, I buy fresh herbs.

Regular cooking, I use the dried till its gone.

I am not subscribing to "toss out annually". It may lose some of it's flavor but on a lot of my spices that I use infrequently, I'd throw away more than I am using ...

G

I cook a lot. Spice consumption patterns are totally unpredictable over a year, so an annual renewal service makes little sense to me. I also try to buy fresh spices and herbs in small quantities as often as possible. So an annual top up also makes no sense.

yup but I could send out FRESH fresher than what you'll get at the Supermarket

Gourmet spices, herbs, essential oils, potpourri, green tea - bulk and wholesale

You need to review the competition

Jim... I think those who really know their cooking will say no. Too much chance of waste and loss of freshness, too hard to predict usage patterns, etc.

But I think there are a lot of people who would probably subscribe.

Think of the millions of dollars that get spent on stupid ads in the back of National Enquirer. A simple classified that says "send a dollar to find out how I got rich" will net plenty of activity. PT Barnum knew what he was talking about.

Cast your net wide enough and you will haul in some fish.

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

Interesting concept, but the devil is in the details. Like many here, my cooking varies widely from year to year. I buy the little McCormmick spice jars, and I don't use a full jar of everything every year. About the only things I'd be interested in would be oregano and some decent (but not wildly expensive) darjeeling tea.

probably not.

i have salt, whole peppercorns...and the rest is very random.

i would kill for a great spice house in my area. i know a place in SF that grinds fresh, but parking is a PIA.

i visited a Penryns in portland and just about fainted. only place i ever found szechuan peppercorns.

no i would definitely not use such a service.


Either i will find what i need, exactly how i need it, when i need it (which will not be all in the same place.)
or i'll grow my own...

If i were to be happy with just somebody selecting it for me, i might as well go to teh supermarket and get spices that way, when i need em rather then an assortment sent once a year whether i need it or not.


I really don't see the point.

I wouldn't use it, but people buy Chia Pets (marketed correctly)...........

maybe

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