Our values
What do we believe in?
Simply common sense.
We are a small company made up of a few people, most of whom (production, order preparation, logistics, graphic designer, digital, web developer) are gathered in a small hamlet in Haut Bugey where we live and work. We are all driven by the same beliefs and the same obsession with quality, service and the environment.
Our other service providers are also close by: two cardboard makers 15 minutes from us, a printer 1 hour away, our illustrator 1 hour 15 minutes away. The bobbins for our cartons are made in Alsace. It's a little further (4 hours), but it's not an import from a distant country.
Here is in detail what binds us and drives us:
The quality
From the start, Max Daumin Epices have been part of a constant register of quality. We want to offer the best in spices, peppers, vanilla, saffron, salt, cocoa. We want to offer taste, goodness, exception; It’s non-negotiable!
No middlemen
We have built a network of around thirty producers and/or pickers around the world and around ten in France. To highlight the taste qualities of an organic product you need to know who plants it, how it is planted, how it is processed, sorted, dried, and when it is harvested. We know when your spice was still in the field and import it immediately after harvest.
The search for taste and not labels
Our selection method is exclusively based on taste, seeking as much as possible organic (when it makes sense) or Fairtrade. Some of our peppers, for example, are not organic, but they are harvested in the wild. We could have them certified, but that has a cost that we cannot yet afford.
The quality of the ground spice
A spice degrades very quickly with time, oxidation, humidity and light (this is why glass jars that are several years old in our cupboards no longer have much taste. We then end up overdosing lack of taste and the subtlety of the most beautiful blends of spices is definitively lost.
So we have created for our ground spices, a paper-based carton, completely made in France, recyclable (paper/cardboard sorting) which fully retains the flavors of the spices. Nothing gets through it. This gives you a spice as if you had just ground it, regardless of the time that passes. The taste quality of these spices in cartons has been awarded 4 consecutive years in the National Fine Grocery Trophy (epicures.monde-epicerie-fine.fr)
Nothing but spices
• No preservatives, no adjuvants: we do not add any of these unnecessary products to our spices. This is nonsense.
• No thickeners, no texturizers, no anti-caking agents: we don’t need them! The quality of the plant naturally. Nothing else to add.
• No added sugar, no salt: you will not find any salt or sugar in our spice blends. No interest !
• Without modified air: our cartons only contain the spice conditioned in ambient air. (no gas of any kind added to facilitate conservation)
• Gluten-free: we grind our spices ourselves with our tool dedicated only to spices. So there is no gluten that can come in our spices. Gluten is only present in certain cereals, we do not work with cereals.
The environment
For us, protecting the environment is simply common sense that takes precedence. This impacts our development choices:
• Selection of the spice: If the spice can grow in France and it has pleasant taste notes then yes! We select it in France. Like our mustard and coriander which come from Isère 1h15 from our company. On the other hand, if the spice grows in France but with disastrous environmental conditions (heated greenhouses for example to reproduce a tropical atmosphere for example), then no, that makes no sense.
• Selection of producers: Certainly working directly with producers promotes the selected quality of the spices, but it also allows the spice to only make one direct journey between the producer and us. Without going through intermediaries. We reduce the impact of spice transport. We operate on a short circuit as much as possible.
• Selection of packaging suppliers: Packaging is by its very nature pollutants, consuming CO2. Our packaging is manufactured near us (Nantua and Oyonnax, 15 minutes from the office). This human and geographical proximity significantly reduces the transport costs of this packaging. In addition, our packaging remains cardboard or paper, recyclable. They are also much lighter than glass or tinplate, substantially reducing the weight transported during shipments and therefore the CO2 cost. Finally, recycling paper or cardboard is the least energy-intensive (compared to glass or tinplate). This is common sense.
For our professional orders requiring large boxes or for a large web order, we systematically reuse our suppliers' boxes. Nothing is thrown away!
• Protection of the spice
We believe that ground spices should be protected from being wasted. This is the vocation of the berlingot. This packaging, i.e. the 10 cartons in a box, represents only 2/3 of an 80g A4 sheet. Much lighter than a glass or tin pot, they are much less expensive in terms of transport costs and therefore in terms of environmental costs.
The service
Our service at your disposal must reflect our products. We are at your disposal, at your disposal and will always respond to you immediately. Your response will be provided to you in less than 2 hours. Our telephone switchboard is available to assist you on 09 70 96 00 46 or by email: contact@maxdaumin.com.
We strive for fast delivery. An order placed on our site until 2 p.m. will be delivered the same day at 3 p.m. at the Post Office. We do everything to ensure that the waiting time between your order and receipt is the minimum. We are on average at D+2. Your packages are carefully packaged and very often garnished with additional spice samples depending on the season. On this point we can only congratulate Christophe who works to prepare and send orders.
DIY: we do everything ourselves
From the selection of the spice, importing, grinding, packaging, sending packages.
The Max Daumin Spices family
We work with people driven by the common sense of our business, driven by the quality of the products, driven by the love of a job well done.
An important criterion that counts in our eyes, sometimes giving back luck and lending a helping hand to people in need. We are proud of it.