Penzey's, the spice shop visited by Kamala -- and then flooded with negative reviews -- is fighting back

[pnwmom]

with a no-holds barred statement on its "About Republicans" page. This is how it begins:

About Republicans

As we’ve now said on our first-ever About Us page on our website, there’s something unique about humankind’s relationship with spices that time and again have caused spices to be a driving force for change. We live in a time calling out for change and for solutions to the very real problems our country and our planet face. There’s two very different futures ahead for us totally dependent on whether we solve these problems or not. With so much at stake we feel obligated to use the unique position spices hold in our lives to try to help promote the solutions to these problems as best we can.

Watching the slow decline of the Republican Party over the last half century, and the steep decline/bottom falling out over the last decade, it can be easy to see the nonsense that has overtaken the party as pretty much random. Once you start seriously looking at the problems America and the world face and who and what are standing in the way of solving those problems, it quickly becomes clear there is nothing random to what the Republicans are promoting.

The Republican departure from conservative values and embrace of what, from a distance, looks a whole lot like insanity didn’t happen by chance. All of it has been intelligently crafted with the goal of preserving the position of those who profit from the inhumanity that is at the very roots of pretty much every problem we are facing. From the environment, to racism/discrimination, to health, to saving our democracy at home and growing it abroad, half the time Republicans are intentionally blocking the solution to the problems we face. The other half of the time they are the problem we face.

The truth of our time is we’ve arrived at the point where there’s no way to respect the nonsense the Republican Party is promoting and have any hope of overcoming the problems we as a nation and we as a planet face. Given the choice between saving America and planet Earth or saving the feelings of Republican voters, we are choosing to side with saving our country and our world. I’m sorry it’s come to this.

https://www.penzeys.com/shop/about-republicans/



They're risking the loss of business with their stand. I'm going to be ordering one of their gift cards, to do my part to help them.

[La Coliniere]

1. Brave business owners are an inspiration.

The owners recognize the danger of the political moment and are willing to risk profit and personal safety to take a stand.
In regards to their sentiments about the Republican Party, I couldn’t agree more.
Their savory spice blends are terrific.

[Solly Mack]

2. I place an order every month. Give spices as gifts.

[WmChris]

105. We gave our kids Pensey gift cards.

We also restock our sizeable spice library with the good stuff from Penseys.

[Solly Mack]

106. They keep me in vanillas.:)

Love the company.

[marble falls]

3. Coincidently enough, I need to get some seasonal spices. Now I know from where.

[marble falls]

11. Anybody who cooks or bakes needs to check them out ...

https://www.penzeys.com/shop/gift-boxes/?categoryId=144

[niyad]

22. They are running their weekend promo. $50 gift card for $35, some freebies.

The gift card you can get this time (I think there is a limit of 10 cards), and use later for whatever you need or want to give as gifts. There is no expiration date on the gift cards!
Many of us here are devoted (addicted???) Penzey's fans.

[ohtransplant]

84. Here's the link.

https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/special-offer-penzeys-gift-card/c-24/p-3129/pd-s

[niyad]

85. Happy early 20th DUnniversary! And thank you for providing the link.

[Prairie_Seagull]

90. Helpful, thanks. nt

[Prairie_Seagull]

81. Inspirational business owner.

Hope others follow in their creed.

Wife and I are in. Now what do we need?

[niyad]

87. Everything! is usually the best answer.

[aocommunalpunch]

4. No support for Republican ANYTHING

To all those continually wishing for some sanity or comradeship with THAT PARTY, bear witness. They need to be ground into the dustbin of history. C’est tout.

[OMGWTF]

24. The Rethuglican party needs to go the way of its predecessor the Whigs.

[oldsoftie]

101. Well for some of us we'd be living in a HOLE if we did that

In my red area I have to use GOP owned businesses or I'd sit at home all day

[ret5hd]

5. they should make a repug seasoning line:

durian fruit extract
skunkweed flakes
poison ivy flavoring
etc

[niyad]

89. Years ago, there was a company called Flowers of Extinction, which

specialized in sending bouquets of dead flowers to people whom one wanted to insult, or send a message of loathing, etc. I absolutely LOVED them. And what an amazing recycling business model. Sadly, they are no longer in business, as we could certainly use them! I suppose, though, that these days they might be perceived as threats.

Your idea is wonderful. But Billl loves cooking and sharing far too much. However, were someone to start such a venture, I would happily give them all my outdated herbs and spices.

[Phoenix61]

6. I love Penzy's! Their spices are the best and I love

spending money with a company that’s not afraid to speak the truth.

[legallyblondeNYC]

7. Penzy's had this up before the VEEP's visit.

Last edited Fri Oct 18, 2024, 06:29 PM - Edit history (1)

And yes, their spices are wonderful. They have wonderful gift sets, too.

[pnwmom]

8. Thanks for the info -- and welcome to DU! nt

[TomSlick]

19. We started buying from Penzey's because of its brave political stance.

Welcome to DU!

[legallyblondeNYC]

21. Thanks for the welcome!

[Ms. Toad]

74. It always surprises me when people post Penzys info as if it is new.

They have been doing this for a long time.

[niyad]

88. Not everyone sees all the information here all the time. None of us can.

Goddess knows I miss a lot! And, we constantly have newcomers who excitedly learn new things upon being here. It is pleasing to be able to share with them.

[Ms. Toad]

96. I'm talking about years, as to Penzys.

Since shortly after he was elected (i.e. End of 2016, beginning of 2017). So I'm this instance, I'm not being surprised people don't know about something that happened during this election cycle, but something that has been going on consistently for around 8 years.

[niyad]

97. Yes, and my point still stands. Not everybody knows everything,

regardless of the time frame. Wr had two Penzey's stores in this town, and even some if my co-foodies did not know about them.

But do keep trying.

[Ms. Toad]

103. "Not everyone sees all the information here all the time."

And my point still stands. You don't have to be here. They have been publishing similar statements in their catalogs, on their website, and on social media. You don't have to be looking all the time. Their activity in this regard has been going on steadily for about 8 years, that I know of. So it surprises me when people announce it as it it is something new, it a response to recent activity.

[niyad]

104. Keep trying.

[Hekate]

9. Would it be okay if you cross-posted this in DU's Cooking & Baking forum?

Penzey’s is a good business with good product and good ethics. I need to make a holiday list soon…

[duncang]

10. I can't order anything now.

Have to wait until the last of the month or first of the next. But will get some Christmas gifts from there.

[niyad]

33. Get on their email list, so you will know when all the specials are. They generally

have one every weekend, the first Tuesday of the month, and a very special one if something big happens.

[Blue Owl]

12. I always shop there for herbs, seasoning, & spices

Good stuff and for a good cause!

[4lbs]

13. I'm getting paid on Tuesday and will be ordering some of their stuff.

When I get my AMEX card in a few weeks, I'll be ordering again.

Then with it, I'll order some spices every month to help them out.

Gotta keep them in business.

[Trueblue Texan]

14. Same here. Nt

[Easterncedar]

15. Everyone should get on their mailing list!

Bill Penzey writes good and encouraging messages, and the deals are frequent and really valuable and often have a fun theme. I ordered a bunch of gift cards last time and got TWO free boxes of assorted spices, worth more than 60 bucks. The gift cards were 35 dollars for 50 dollars of value. You can’t beat it.

[Botany]

16. I need more Sunny Paris

Time to go shopping.

BTW that was really well written.

[HeartsCanHope]

60. Sunny Paris is awesome!

What I like is they have spice blends that help those of us watching our salt intake, too.

[Botany]

65. Eggs w/out it? I don't think so. Sunny Paris awesome.

I first tried it about 10 years ago and it was part of gift box.

[Prairie_Seagull]

86. +1

[bahboo]

17. Ok, I'm bookmarking this...

we (meaning my wife), use a LOT of spices at home. We'll be placing a big order this weekend. Fuck the repubs. They probably eat boring unspiced food anyway, the assholes.

[Botany]

23. Penzy's Pie spice is awesome

Universal topping for fruit or coffee
Whipping cream about 2 cups
2 table spoons brown sugar
Vinalla penzy's
2 teaspoons penzy's pie spice
lemon juice
Whip with a mixer

[StarryNite]

18. Penzey's is a wonderful company with awesome spices.

Support Penzey's fight against the MAGATs the delicious way...order some of their products if you are able.

[MerryBlooms]

20. I've been ordering from Penzeys for years. The first post I shared from them, was hidden

As spam. Lol
Their Choose Love towels and mug, are awesome. The towels are so colorful, they hide any stains, including curry! 🥰😆
I have one of their blankets, and of course, my cupboard is filled with Penzeys. All quality products and a company that supports democracy and Democratic values!!

[niyad]

25. I love that if you order one of their "hug" blankets, they will donate

another one to a local helping group.

Quiite apart from my own spice cabinet, they make wonderful gifts. I give the staff at my favourite local care agency a basketful at the holidays, so they can pick out their favourites.

[MerryBlooms]

48. When your recipient receives the Penzeys gidt box,

There are whole spices in the box. When you open the box, you are treated to a beautiful aromatic gift, as well as the sealed spices. I have received, loose bay leaves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, etc... Lovely presentation, plus, extra spice! Yum!! 🥰🥰🥰

[niyad]

53. Ohhhhh yes!

[buzzycrumbhunger]

26. A good reminder...

… to order some spices if you haven’t in a while—or ever!

[SheltieLover]

27. Hats off to Penzy's!

I'll be buying gift cards for Christmas gifts for sure!

[niyad]

31. If you can, do it this weekend. $50 cards for $35, with a limit of 10, I believe.

[SheltieLover]

52. Yes! Excellent!

Ty so much!

[niyad]

54. You are most welcome!

[mcar]

28. Love their spices

and their advocacy!

My kids got Penzey gift packs for Christmas last year.

[blue sky at night]

29. Everything they do is the Best....

From where they are located to their politics to the Granulated Garlic…OMG! They are big supporters of teachers as well, just love Penzeys! Can you say Wauwatosa with the proper rolling of the O’s!? I can as I have been going to Wisconsin my whole life…

[niyad]

30. That "About Republicans" has been on their site for several years.

They knew they risked losing customers, but felt the issue is too important.

After Kamala's visit, and TRAITOR**'s comment, again they took a hit.But their customers rallied, and it took three weeks to catch up on the shipments. May it happen again this weekend!

[Klarkashton]

32. Leaving a negative review out of political spite

Is just plain vandalism. Maga is disgusting.

[barbtries]

34. They did a big sale

when they were first attacked and boycotted. They did well with it, resulting in one of my niece's wedding gifts showing up after the wedding. lol

love Penzey's.

[MerryBlooms]

49. I ordered a bunch of the Orange Spices special.

[lpbk2713]

35. Hats off to Penzey's

I'd order something from them but I don't do that much cooking.

[niyad]

39. Their spices, gift boxes and other goodies make wonderful gifts for any foodies

in your life!

[lpbk2713]

42. Thanks

I'll keep it in mind.

[Maru Kitteh]

43. Then try their sandwich sprinkle and frozen pizza seasoning!

You eat sandwiches right? Pizza?

I think the sandwich sprinkle is great on almost anything. I just got mine about a week or so ago and it was an instant favorite.

[lpbk2713]

44. I was just looking over their herbs.

I like dipping bread in olive oil and herbs. I might give it a try.

[niyad]

91. And their cheese sprinkle! Mashed potatoes! Potato soup! Tomato soup!

Scrambled eggs! Grilled cheese sandwiches!

[Maru Kitteh]

99. Ooo, thanks for the pro tip Niyad! I'll put it on my next order :-)

[niyad]

100. You are most welcome! I know you will find even more uses for it!

[DemonGoddess]

36. I'm ordering from them

as soon as I have the extra in a few weeks

[niyad]

41. Be sure you get on their email list, so you know when all the specials are.

[slightlv]

37. Ive been planning on trying some of their spice

Mixtures when my money got straight. Now is about that time. I've already bought a gift set for teachers... for my sis as a xmas gift.

I love penzeys.. their spices, their sets, and most all how they pour their whole soul into the shop and customers. It's a brave stand today, and I'll both salute and reward it.

[Maru Kitteh]

38. I placed my first-ever order with Penzy's after she stopped by. I LOVE THEM.

Oh emm gee.

DELICIOUS.

I'll be getting 90% of my spices from Penzy's from now on.

[nolabear]

76. There's a store near me. It's sheer joy to go through!

And yes, their spices are just wonderful.

[Ninga]

40. I appreciate this OP. I'm ordering now.

[Backseat Driver]

45. I love Penzey's Spices and lucky enough to live nearby a store. Magical place!

What I need is a bigger spice rack, LOL! Great products and sales for cooking and baking! Choose Love! Love people, cook them tasty food - a bumpersticker from CEO Bill that lives on the front of my kitchen refrigerator.

[MerryBlooms]

51. The pull down spice racks are easy to install, and really add to space to a small cabinet.

[Dem2theMax]

62. I must live a very sheltered life. Never knew that there were pull down spice racks!

I've been going crazy, buying Penzeys spices.


I'm short. And the cabinet the spices are in, I basically need a footstool to see all of them. I am so glad you mentioned pull down spice racks!
I'm going shopping. And then I'm going shopping again at Penzeys. Bought lots of gift cards too. Some to use for myself.

[Easterncedar]

78. I have that bumper sticker on my car

And it just feels like a sweet message to broadcast.

[Ocelot II]

79. Me, too. I should pay a visit, just for the great smells.

[BootinUp]

46. K&R!

[DET]

47. Just ordered a gift card

Thanks for the tip!

[iemanja]

50. It took Kamala's visit for the right to figure out Penzeys is liberal?

Not very quick on the uptake, are they?

[pansypoo53219]

55. passed their 3rd st shop to get a meal at a place down the block. the aroma from the shop was amazing.

sadly we didn't go to penzy's too.

[SCantiGOP]

56. Don't worry about their business

I’ve been ordering from them for years. About a week after the visit by the VP, I told my whole family I would buy for them if they gave me their orders. I ended up with almost a $200 order.
When I was ordering online, I got a message that due to an “extraordinary surge” in orders, their usual 3-4 day delivery would be more like 2 weeks. The most surprising thing was, they had a link in the message that would let you cancel your order if you needed the spices sooner. That is an unusual customer-friendly move.
I think their business will be fine in the future.

[niyad]

92. Fortunately, I was able to click on the link reading, "no hurry. I can wait"

I think it was about 2 1/2 weeks of me smiling at how busy they were!

[Teacher of the Year]

57. I make cookies for all of my neighbors at Christmas and buy Penzey cinnamon etc.

I take some joy knowing that even my most conservative neighbors are going to enjoy some very tasty Penzey spices. Thank you , this was a good reminder to get my order in before cookie season!

[HeartsCanHope]

58. We shop at Penzey's all the time.

Their spices are superior to grocery store spices. We also support them for their political views. We often give gift cards to Penzey's for holidays. I highly recommend this business!

[GenThePerservering]

59. I see they have a large selection of salt-free spice blends

I usually purchase Dak's, but Penzey's has more, things like Chinese 5-spice and garam masala. Mmm..."Raspberry Enlightenment"!

[slightlv]

61. For me

Cooking is like practicing Magick. Intent, will, energies, and the correct ingredients that match will and intent... complimentary and contrast. The recipe is the spell... and the better the ingredients used, and the energies put into the stirring, etc... well, my grandson says everything I cook tastes so much better than his or his mom's. I just tell him it's all the love I put into it. Penzeys spices align with the way i think and the way I cook. After being introduced to them about 5 years ago, I can't imagine anything better to add spice or contrast to a dish.

Im also working on a cookbook for grandsons favorite recipes, and there'll be a section for best ingredients... like spices and herbs. Im gonna ask penzeys if I can use a quote from their shop to open the book.

[COL Mustard]

63. I'm fortunate to have a store in my town.

I love going in there. The spices always smell so good, and now there's even more reason to go!

[niyad]

98. At one point, we had two here, on different sides of town. Sadly, both are

no more. Thank goodness for online shopping!

[ColoradoHoosier]

64. Just received my first order

Plan on getting a few of the gift cards, on sale, prior to the 20th

[niyad]

94. Welcome to our DU family.

[pazzyanne]

66. I have used and LOVED Penzey spices for years!

[MaeScott]

67. My Christmas Gifts problem has been solved.

Everybody gets some spices. 💙

[panfluteman]

68. BINGO! I Couldn't Have Written It Any Better Myself!

And speaking about healing the Republican Party, let's not forget the tremendous benefits that common cooking spices have rendered in the service of health and healing. Why was there such a thriving medieval spice trade? When one looks at the old herbal medicinal formulas of the period, as I have, one finds that many ingredients in these formulas were common cooking spices - so, these exotic spices were used not just to spice up their food, but also to make medicines as well. For example, I learned in Chinese herbology class in acupuncture school that Cloves could be used to stop hiccups. I had a hard time believing that until I got some bad hiccups in my friend's health food store, with a jar of Cloves on the spice rack nearby. I ate one Clove, and whamo - my hiccups were GONE!

[ecstatic]

69. Omg that is amazing and bold! Does anyone have a recommendation

for a great tasting all-in-one spice that can be used on chicken or meat? Unfortunately, I'm not good with mixing and matching.

[GoCubsGo]

72. Any of their blends are great!

I really love their Forward! blend, which is a good all-around blend. as is Mural of Flavor. The Justice, Outrage, and Revolution blends are really good, too, They have trial-size bags available for many of their blends, as well as some of their individual herbs and spices. It makes it easy to sample them to find what you like best.

[Hoosier]

70. and a new customer is born!

Buy a gift card ($50 for $35) and 5 or 6 trial packets - get to $50 total and shipping is free, too

[sdfernando]

71. They have a spice shop about a mile from my house

I’m going to have to pay more frequent visits there in support!

[themaguffin]

73. It's great, but the page isn't new.

[nolabear]

75. Bill and Co. are absolute champs. Buy Christmas gifts there!

They have great spices and a great online store. For the MAGA in the family, they’re the perfect holiday gift.

[Ocelot II]

77. Bravo, Penzey's! I wish I did enough cooking to justify buying spices,

but maybe I'll buy some anyhow. I could use some cardamom for the small amount of Christmas baking I do.

[niyad]

95. They make great gifts, as well.

[Goonch]

80. 👇👇👇👁️👁️

[Pacifist Patriot]

82. Northwoods Fire is hands down my favorite go to seasoning.

I could probably use a few more jars of it about how!

[wryter2000]

83. Bill Penzey has been doing this sort of thing for years

His business continues to flourish.

[BComplex]

93. I've been ordering from Penzey's since I discovered them in 2018. They used to have a store in Raleigh NC

but I believe it closed during COVID, because it's not there anymore. But I've ordered online ever since they closed here. They are a great company, and I love their spices and their prices!

Keep it up, Penzey's!!!!

[IzzaNuDay]

102. Love them!

I was so sad when they closed the store closest to home, it was during the shutdown. It was like going to a candy store. I’m placing a big order to replenish my inventory. And clean out my spice rack to rid of the old stuff I have. Anything to help them out!