I was out shopping yesterday and noticed a big variation in the price of spices based on brand. Let's take for example black pepper. The price varied between the 4 brands I noticed, from cheap to very expensive. Why? Pepper is not produced in my country, so the price variation is not a result of that, so that you could say - this one is more expensive because it's imported, and this other one is cheap because it's grown here. Also, I feel no difference in taste between the cheap and expensive brands. What's your opinion on this?
I usually buy the cheapest one. I think there's not much difference in taste, it's not practical to buy the expensive ones. What I only notice is the way they are packed. Expensive ones are packed with more sophistication and elegance while those cheap ones are just packed just to be packed. What I see people are paying for the expensive one is aesthetic. But since it's spices we are talking about, what matters more is their function, their taste.
I also buy the cheap ones but I'm also after the packaging, not for aesthetic reasons but rather for health/safety reasons. Poorly packed spices may be contaminated or have higher risk of being contaminated. But overall, I'm not brand conscious so I go for generic stuff as long as they are safe to use.
Spices are something I do notice a huge difference in taste in different brands. Probably because I grow so much of my own herbs that I can taste differences. I don't know. I do know that at the health food store, in bulk, spices taste SO much better! It's like a night and day difference. And the prices are great in bulk too. My regular grocery store has a health food section with bulk herbs and spices and it's a GREAT buy, one of the best in the store! And the taste is over the moon different. In the regular spice isle, they taste washed out to me.
I'm not really swayed by price. It really comes down to quality for me if I can get a high quality product at a cheaper price than I will go for that. But I will not get a cheap thing and sacrifice on the quality. I'm not the kind of consumer cool would rather suffer and deal with consequences as opposed to pay the extra amount and get the right product and the best for me as an individual. I think it's very important to be able to make that distinction. I usually go by this to say that cheap is usually more expensive in the long run.
At one of my former residences, there was a small middle-eastern market nearby. I stopped in there out of curiosity one day, and was really surprised at the bargains you could get on spices. A majority of them were sold in large bags, I'm guessing about a 1lb or so each, for under $4-$5 each. A tiny bottle of any one of those spices would easily cost that much at our local chain grocery stores, and this place was selling large bags of them for roughly the same price. My only concern would be that I don't have enough proper containers to store all of these spices appropriately and they would likely go bad long before I could ever use them all up. Another option would be to possibly split up these spices with your friends so you could all save. It's certainly possible to find high quality spices at dirt cheap prices. It just depends on where you get them from. Aldi for example, carries high quality spices (in relatively large bottles) for only $1 each. On the other hand, so does our local Dollar General and Deals, but theirs don't look good at all - the oregano, parsley, and basil look old and grey, their paprika looks dull, etc... Save-A-Lot carries bay leaves for only $1, whereas a jar of McCormick brand elsewhere would run me over $6. Generally speaking, the staples such as garlic powder, parsley, etc... I can find good ones for $1 each. But the more specialty stuff like, say Smoked Paprika, I will splurge and get a good brand since it makes quite a difference.
