Spice Wars

I don’t pay a lot of attention to spices, but my wife, being a terrific cook, does. So she pointed out that following the election, a Wisconsin-based spice company called Penzeys has announced that it only wants customers from one side of the aisle:

“The open embrace of racism by the Republican Party in this election is now unleashing a wave of ugliness unseen in this country for decades,” Bill Penzey Jr. wrote in a Tuesday night email to the company’s mailing list. “The American people are taking notice.”

On Facebook, Penzey wrote:

You just voted for an openly racist candidate for the presidency of the United States of America. … [Y]ou just committed the biggest act of racism in American history since Wallace stood in the schoolhouse doorway 53 years ago.

It turns out that I am (or rather, my wife is) a pretty substantial Penzeys customer. She took this photo of Penzeys spices from our cupboard, which she says she will return to a local Penzeys store and explain that since they don’t want our business, she is returning their products:

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Where to go for future spice needs? It turns out that a competing spice company, The Spice House, is now promoting the fact that it stays out of politics and welcomes everyone’s business:

I like that: Use NOPOLITICS for free shipping. What makes this spice war doubly interesting is that the owner of The Spice House is Penzey’s sister:

It would be interesting to be invited to their Thanksgiving dinner!

In the meantime, our household has a new spice provider.

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