Yes, our farmers work in harmony with nature. They want to keep the soil healthy and their crops pure. For example, they work regeneratively or according to traditional production methods and do not use chemicals and pesticides. Yet, the spices from the Good Spice are not certified organic. Since we often receive questions about this, we would like to explain why.
What exactly is organic food?
Organic crops are grown in a way that considers people, animals, and the environment. No chemicals (pesticides), genetic modification, antibiotics, or hormones are used (the latter of course applies to animal products). Chemical colorants and flavorings also may not be added.
So far: check. Our farmers meet these requirements.
However, the word "organic" is a protected term. Strict rules are attached to the use of an organic label on your packaging. Every company that sells organic products is obliged to register with SKAL Biocontrole. Both the intermediary and the producer must be organically certified if you want to sell organic products as a store.
The cost of the organic label is why our spices are not organically certified. The farmers we work with are still very small-scale. A number of our partners, such as Eko Land, Graamya, and Black Gold Pepper, function as community farms where they help small-scale farmers with the sale of their spices. This way, they help each other achieve a livable income, share knowledge, and ensure that all spices are processed in the same good way for the best results. And thus the best yields. We cannot expect all these small farmers to apply for organic certification. Those costs are simply unaffordable for them. We specifically want to help farmers who cannot afford these kinds of certifications but who find it important to work this way.
How do you verify that?
The advantage of an organic label is, of course, that rules are attached to it, and you can therefore assume that these rules are adhered to. We adopt the same approach but do not send an expensive agency to check this. We have intensive contact with our farmer partners and visit the plantations where the spices come from to see with our own eyes that they indeed work the way they say they do. Moreover, we have all spices tested in a laboratory to ensure that no chemicals have been used and that the product we receive is 100% pure and natural.
We choose an approach of transparency. You can ask us anything. We will tell you exactly which farmer grows what. Feel free to visit them yourself if you want to see their working methods with your own eyes! Do you want to see the results of the lab tests? Let us know, and we will send them to you.
