Friday 24 January 2014

Gourmet Company - Best Online Store For Baking & Gourmet Supplies

Hello friends today am gonna review about one of my favorite online supply store that will sure put an end to your ingredient search. Get your favorite gourmet delights, baking supplies under the same roof. 

Many a times we women tend to try new recipes and due to unavailability of the needed ingredients we skip off the idea and sometimes even give up the idea of trying new dishes. Most of the times hunting for the particular ingredient can be such an annoying experience. I have been looked at like an alien for inquiring about certain baking supplies in many departmental stores. And most of the times when I plan on any other country's cuisine I'll always have to send out someone to look for a particular ingredient, it would always be frustrating to see them return with empty hands. Because of this I've dropped the idea many times. Having passion on baking & cooking and skipping the idea of trying some new recipes will always be a frustrating experience. And am sure every one of us have the same kind of experience at some point. This is the same case in developed cities too if we do not find the right store. 

So now where can we get those gourmet supplies? like the natural vanilla extract? or green apple syrup or white tea? or those cute sprinkles for a kid party? Go ask them in stores and people would stare at us, I have experienced this many many times and in my native I've even had funny experiences. One of the most funny experience at a departmental store I had was, when I was looking for brown sugar to prepare cookies. After I couldn't find the ingredient, I inquired the person in charge of the store, he immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "Mam that's a prohibited drug"!!! Hmm now I was totally pissed off. Should I still explain him? 

Going out and roaming about to find for a good supply store isn't going to work without any references, and during busy hours it is quite impossible to go outside and look out for ingredients just for the sake of a single recipe. You may find the rest of the ingredients, but you may not get that one ingredient that the recipe indicates as the most needed. Now you will have to hunt for this one ingredient in another store. It will definitely be an annoying experience for us and the ones who take us shopping ;). So how about an online solution to all this? Online shopping has boon in this case, you can find out supplies or products sitting at home without spending your energy and wasting your precious time. But how do you find the right store for your baking supplies? Read further to know more!

So now let me introduce you to a wonderful online gourmet supply store with all the essentials needed for baking and cooking. 


GOURMETCO.IN


"Gourmet Company" -  A stop to all your search for baking supplies/essentials and rare ingredients!! 

thai
They have a huge category of products of rarely available gourmet supplies and baking essentials. The wide range of product availability under different categories has really amazed me. The best part is the way they explain the product. For example check out this coconut sugar, many might not have known this one, but the description they have given is enough to know about the product. I really appreciate their efforts here, as many stores miss to do this. Now whenever I feel like preparing a new dish I never go out looking for the ingredient, instead I just sit at home, browse their website, purchase the needed ingredients and get them delivered at my door. I have showcased the products from my recent purchase scroll down to know more. 


cupcake liners
Now, Lets check some interesting categories that might be very useful to you. 
  1. Baking shelf - You can find different types of Sugars, varieties of awesome Sprinkles & Edible shapes, Gel colors & Edible ink pens, Cookie mixes, Cupcake liners, readymade Fondant, Gum paste, Holographic and Lustre dusts, Chocolate wrappers, some Baking pans, Macaroon sheet, Cookie cutters and miscellaneous ingredients like Flavoring oils, Pie fillings, Bourbon vanilla extract, Vanilla bean pods, Golden syrup & Corn syrup. (Wow that's a huge collection right?) If you are a baking freak like me, you will never come out of this category for sure. This will be a best place for the home bakers too.  
  2. Jams & Honeys - You can find some rarely available Marmalades, Jams & preserves like Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Four fruits preserve, Litchi Honey, New Zealand Tawari Honey etc. (All at fair cost) 
  3. Cheese Cellar - Cheeses are not easy to get in any store, and special varieties are always at demand. Get some rare cheeses here, like Vegetarian cheese, Blue vein cheese, Feta cheese, Cheddar and Edam wedges. But on prepaid basis. (They do have a Cheese FAQ part, which you must definitely check out, they explain the reason for this prepaid basis and  have answer for other queries). You can also find Crackers for cheese here. 
  4. Italian Mercato - Find awesome Italian cuisine related ingredients and products like, Huge varieties of Pastas (You'll definitely love the gluten free dinosaur shaped pastas here) Pasta making machines, Ingredients like, Olives, Pasta sauces & pastes, Olive oils & vinegars, Herbs & seasonings. 
  5. World Cusine - Get some Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese & Moroccan, & Mexican ingredients here. 
  6. Tea Room - Look out for some rarely available tea such as, White tea and Specialty tea such as Red tea, Lemongrass tea, Oolong tea, Rose tea, Chrysanthemum tea etc. There is also another section for coffee, you can check them under the Coffee barrel categorization
  7. Healthy Choice - Look out for healthy products like low fat salad dressings, special foods like macadamia nuts and interesting dried fruits like dried Thai mangoes here. 
  8. Gourmet Gifts - Check out for Gift baskets and Boxes. You always do not have to gift your wife or daughter the old teddies, time to gt them something that they'll really find useful in kitchen. You can also gift your loved ones with gourmetco.in gift vouchers
jams
Jams, Honeys & Marmalade
I've mentioned only a few of the categories, you can check out their site or more products and ingredients. All the products are worth purchasing at a reasonable prize. 

I can boldly recommend this online store as I have purchased here. I just loved the service, the price and products. 


baking


My Purchases 

Let me show you some of my recent purchases from this online store. Each and every product is reasonably priced and is of good quality. 
  1. Red polka dots mini cupcake liners 
  2. Vanilla bean pod 
  3. Royal Blue gel color 
  4. Silver gel color
  5. Holographic blue disco dust
  6. Cake boards
  7. Light brown sugar
  8. Cream of tartar
  9. Corn syrup (White) 
cup cake liners
There are many different colored and designed cupcake liners available at a reasonable price. I've been searching for decent ones online and the high price did upset me, but here you can find good ones at a very decent price. Mini cupcake liners can be used for making cute little cupcakes and as cases for chocolates. 

vanilla bean pod
Vanilla is a very brilliant flavoring ingredient needed for almost every baking recipe. Did you know it is the second most expensive spice after saffron? I got this detail from their product description. We always use essence made of synthetic vanilla "Vanillin" a chemical substance. But how about using natural flavor? You can use bean pods to directly flavor recipes and also use it to prepare vanilla extract. There were 4 pods in a glass case. If you are not interested in making your own extract you can get the bourbon vanilla extract at their store. This vanilla pod I purchased are from Kerala, these have only about 30% moisture. Madagascar vanilla bean pods are available too, for a finer quality purchase these. 

gel colors
In the baking pantry you can find different sprinkles, lustre dusts, edible gel colors and cake decoratives. These gel colors are perfect to color your fondants, cakes and cookies. There are many different colored disco dusts that can make cakes look gorgeous and also there are cute sprinkles & confetti available in different shapes which you must definitely check.  

cake board

These cake boards are of good quality, they are strong and sturdy. These boards are available in snow white, pink, red, gold and silver colors and in different shapes like square, circle and scallop. A frosted cake definitely needs this base. 

corn syrup and ingredients

ingredients
I've used most of the products that I've purchased and am very much satisfied with them. I have to still use the vanilla bean pod, once I do I will be adding a review about it. The cake boards were of fantastic quality and so were the cupcake liners. I will definitely recommend this site to my readers and friends. I love browsing the products and it seems like the best stop for my ingredient search. 

My Review 


Website - The site is user friendly but a little confusing for new users, once you get used to it, you will have a great time browsing through the huge varieties of products. Initially I did have some confusions but later it was an ease to browse. If their categorization is more clearer people would find it easier to browse through. They have large number of products and I do not want people to miss them out. Instead of just showcasing the new arrivals on their homepage it would be better if they provide a picture gallery of their product categories. It would definitely be easier for the people to browse category wise. Most of us do miss out the columns and that is where they have posted the categories. Another suggestion would be, to add more pictures of their products, it will definitely be a better showcasing way. For example we do not know how a particular sprinkle will look like when they just showcase the pack alone, they have really attractive ones so including another pic (preferably a zoom-able picture) of the lose sprinkles will definitely be easier for the customers to choose from. But their description must definitely be appreciated, you can picture them easily just by reading their product description. 

Availability of products - They have a wide spread of all the essentials a home-cook or any professional would need. I am extremely satisfied with the availability of products. Some rare ingredients were a surprise to me as I had been hunting for them long in stores near me and never found them even in exotic shops. Getting all products from baking to cooking under a single roof is definitely appreciable. If they include some more baking pans it would be even more better. 

Pricing - Most of the products are fairly priced, for example the cupcake liners were cheaper than certain online stores. 

Payment options 

  1. Cash on delivery
  2. Pay using bank transfer (i.e Deposit in bank account)
  3. Online payment (Pay using Credit card, Debit card & Net banking)

Shipping is free for orders above Rs.1000, below which they charge Rs.75

Customer support - The customer support has been fantastic and its really appreciable that you can contact them via phone. If you have any queries you can email them and you'll get an immediate response, you can also call them or even order via phone. A chat box is always available on the right corner of the screen, you can leave your question there and get  response from their agent in a few minutes. 

Delivery of products - I had a smooth time ordering the products and I chose the online payment option. Once I paid I received an email immediately regarding the confirmation of order. Once the products were dispatched I received another detailed email regarding the dispatch of order. I received the products within 4 days, I just loved this speedy delivery. I have recently purchased from a popular online store and had a devastating experience. But loved the smooth delivery service of Gourmetco.in. I did not have any trouble with the courier service also. 



Package - Am very much satisfied with their packing style. Each and every product was carefully bubble wrapped and was free from any damage. I loved the cute cupcake liner case which was strong enough to resist cupcake liners from getting crushed. 

Now these are the products I have started to eye on for my next set of purchase!! ;) 
  1. Natural Food & Beverage Colors (Extracted from fruits & flowers) 
  2. All Natural Vanilla Bourbon Extract
  3. Some Sprinkles
  4. Cupcake Liners
  5. Blooming tea (Just check out the product, it will make a great gourmet gift) 
  6. And some more baking supplies

Rating 


  1. Safety & Reliability of website - 5/5
  2. Website User Interface - 4/5 
  3. Pricing - 4.5/5 
  4. Customer support - 5/5
  5. Products Availability - 5/5 
  6. Delivery & Packaging - 5/5
  7. Products Quality - 5/5

Overall rating - 4.7/5


Final Verdict - Safe & reliable online store for your ingredients hunt. This would be the one best stop for all your cooking and baking supplies search!!

6 comments:

  1. Thats an very useful info and they have wonderfully packed and delivered :) thanks for sharing this dear it will be useful when i come back to india :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. what a lovely list of picks sis looks like a great baker's nest :) well explained and written review thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete

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