• A great deal of the spices, seasonings and baking products are packed in small, round glass jars (as an example: Organic Perfect Salt holds 90g in weight, whereas, the same sized jar of Ras al-Hanut weighs in at 48g)

I admit I had some preconceived idea that this company, Steenbergs, manufactured and supplied just a small, yet beautifully formed, range of organic baking products. How wrong this notion turned out to be! After researching on their website http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/ I was astonished, yes, astonished is the word, to see that this company is nothing short of an online ethically trading supermarket! There are enough culinary, kitchen items, health and beauty/house cleaning products available to do a one-stop household shop. Gift items are also available.

STEENBERGS Postage/Packing, and Pricing:
• Postage and packing is free for online orders over £19.99 (UK only). Items are delivered in well packed, sturdy cardboard boxes as many items are fragile
• There is a vast range of quality items, many unique to Steenbergs’s specific manufacture and blend, yet prices are not inflated
• Disadvantage is, as with any web retailers, you will miss ‘in store’ type offers shopping this way, but it is my understanding that any special offers running are advertised on the website and that signing up to a quarterly newsletter, sent via email, will inform customers of up and coming deals

STEENBERGS Organic and Ethical Trading Principles
• Steenbergs’s own brand of teas spices and herbs and other products are organic where possible
• A number of products from other producers who are selling through the website are manufacturers of Fairtrade and environmentally friendly products

STEENBERGS Stockists and Distributors
• Available online and from over 400 stockists and distributors around the UK and Ireland
• To find the nearest outlet to you, up to a 60 mile radius, key in your postcode in the postcode finder box when online

STEENBERGS Presentation
• The company have opted for small glass jars for the presentation of many of their dry goods. Illustrated jars as shown at the top of this blog post above are called standard size
• Bags of loose tea are presented in 125g caddy tins in colours that compliment the decor of many modern kitchens
• Labeling is clean, clear and plain. While browsing online items can be tricky to locate when looking at some of the web pages, the labeling on the small jars does not differ enough sometimes, so individual items are not always definable, and you have to really concentrate on reading the headings so not to order incorrectly
• Website is professional and is user friendly overall, it has reams and reams of product information, recipe tips, background info about the sourcing of goods and item specific details from the makers and designers. There is no extra organisational type information that can possibly be conveyed in this review

Now before I set time aside to order a ‘big shop’ from Steenbergs for myself, I revert to the views of the team for one last comment.

TSS says: initially we were supplied full sized samples of the five items illustrated in this blog post to review (including organic vanilla sugar). We have to agree with our writer however, that in respect to the management of the business, the owners demonstrate much openness and integrity over the sharing of details of their operation. We found the extensive product information on the website exacting with that of our own findings, after sampling the items. And that even the advertorial blurb which accompanies each listing, (the type where some businesses can stretch the truth in their own self promoting exercises on occasion), are, in the case of these five items, absolutely true to the mark. There is a lot of reading to do but the information is accurate. So, in this instance, and to avoid a repeating of the finer particulars, we choose to serve as supporters and verifiers of all that communication type info that is widely available on the website; they have been extremely thorough with their set up.

*****FIVE STARS