One of the saddest experiences I had was being in a supermarket in upstate New York and hearing two local ladies shopping. They picked up the fresh ginger and were raving to each other about how big and beautiful the ginger was. Little did they know that within that ginger was sewage water from China.
For dried herbs and spices, you’d hope that big brands like McCormick would be responsible, but they too have been sourcing from China for years. And they’re not alone. If you buy anything from garlic powder to ginger, it’s probably from China.
And while they supposedly have quality control, the reality is that China’s air and soil are polluted, and may carry impurities or flavors that quality checkers will never see. So ironically, while we may think we’re avoiding ingesting things from China by checking the sources on our produce, vegetables, and fruit, we may end up just putting their garbage back into us with their herbs and spices.
Thankfully, there are some brands that are fighting back, opting to single source from individual farms rather than capitulate to the supply chains that China has all but taken over. I’ve listed the best below.
The Best Spices and Herbs not Made in China
1. Burlap and Barrel
A reminder that when you purchase from this site, I may earn a commission on sales, which is use towards maintaining the site.
You might have heard of Burlap and Barrel because they were featured on Shark Tank. They are single origin, and not only can you see the country of origin, you can read about the farmer who actually operates the farm that grows the crops.
- Cinnamon from Vietnam
- Garlic Powder from Vietnam
- Cumin from Afghanistan
- Paprika from Spain
- Bay Leaf from the Caribbean
Each bottle seems pricey, but think about it—I have McCormick spices in my cabinet that are years and years old, and I’ll probably end up throwing away most of them. Here, you get the best spices in the world; they’ll stay fresh for a long time properly stored in their glass jars, and the quality of these will far surpass mass produced ones. Buy a few jars and divvy them up with friends or family who love to cook.
I put Amazon links here, but if you prefer you can also shop at their official Web site for a larger selection.
2. Daphnis and Chloe
Daphnis and Chloe is another single-origin herb maker, based out of Greece. The Mediterranean climate and soil is uniquely superior for growing herbs and the world’s best spices—it’s horrifying that farms in that region go out of business while dirty, polluted farms in China thrive. Let’s flip that around.
Daphnis and Chloe work with farms throughout Greece to find the finest ingredients. Here are some of their most popular products:
- Chili Flakes from Greece
- Oregano from Greece
3. Diaspora Co.
Diaspora Co. is another company that works with more than 150 high quality farms across India and Sri Lanka, not China.
Not surprisingly, they specialize in Indian and South Asian spices. Here are some of their most popular ones.
They also have a larger selection on their Web site.
4. Pinch Spice Market
Pinch Spice Market is a small business out of Louisville, Kentucky that aspires to provide the highest quality spices. They don’t divulge all the farms they work with, but they do make a point to buy Fair Trade and Organic raw materials, which they process themselves in Louisville.
What won me over to them is that they’re one of the only companies I found who sell garlic powder from California garlic. Check out their Amazon page for their impressive array of other spices, sealed in packets.
5. Curio Spice Co.
I like that Curio Spice Co. sources many of its products from small farms and packs them in-house in Massachusetts. They sell blends and rubs on their Amazon store, while individual spices can be found on their web site. I appreciate how on their site they are very clear about their products being single origin, and in most cases naming where they ingredients came from. I don’t love how they conveniently leave that part out of products like garlic powder and onion powder—you can guess why. So this is a company where I’d support products you can confirm were not made in China.
6. Mountain Rose Herbs
I’m pretty impressed by this company, not just because they managed to keep their garlic powder (USA or Egypt) and ginger powder (Peru, Nicaragua) free from China. I also appreciate how their Web site clearly provides country of origin in most cases (if you don’t see it listed, assume it’s China)
Even better, their Web site has a section dedicated to herbs grown in the USA. These are the top-quality companies that globalization has all but wiped out, but I’m glad that this company is still with us and producing top-notch herbs.
Conclusion
There are a lot of companies that I wanted to include but which didn’t make the cut. The Spice House, McCormick, Frontier Co-op, and Spice Islands all sell plenty of spices grown elsewhere, but their consumer labels and sites generally don’t provide enough consistent product-level sourcing information. Hope they do one day. Until then, reward the small business that do by buying their superior products to the big brands’ mass-produced products.
Do you know of other great herbs and spice brands not made in China? Let us know in the comments!
