2017 sees the artisan spice company Steenbergs take a positive stance on environmental, social and religious accreditation of its products, with halal & kosher certification and vegan & vegetarian status, to add to its organic and Fairtrade credentials.

“Here at Steenbergs the key theme is to be able to demonstrate that we both appreciate and are addressing customers' differing requirements for Steenbergs herb, spice and tea products,” says Axel Steenberg, founder of the company in 2003 with his wife Sophie. “This is not only about environmental (Organic) and social (Fairtrade; SEDEX), but also about religious and other ethical factors.”

Vegan registration

Steenbergs has successfully registered its extracts and flower waters with The Vegan Society, with new packaging launching early next month. The full baking range will be fully vegan shortly, followed in the next few months by the rest of the own-brand products. “Being able to say that all Steenbergs products are animal-free, vegetarian and vegan is an important milestone,” says Sophie Steenberg, “and this will be achieved by mid-2017.”

Kosher Certification

Steenbergs finalised its kosher certification on 16 December 2016 with the London Beth Din Kashrut Division (Kosher London Beth Din) and it was confirmed on 3 January 2017. This means that over 250 Steenbergs branded products have been certified and are permitted to include the KLBD logo for year round use. The relabelling will start shortly with the organic extracts range.

Halal Certification

Following a detailed certification and audit process over several months, Steenbergs now has 31 products certified as conforming to Halal requirements in accordance with Islamic law.  certification is by Halal Certification Europe who is approved by JAKIM (Malaysia) and MUIS (Singapore) as well as other Halal authorities.

The products that conform to Halal are all blends prepared at Steenbergs. Individual spices and herbs are not certified as Halal, because they are processed at the ingredients' source rather than at Steenbergs' factories.

These impressive accreditations join the list of organic, Fairtrade, SALSA and SEDEX as important tools to show customers just how seriously Steenbergs takes the provenance of their products.

SPICE-SEASON-SAVOUR with STEENBERGS

ENDS

Notes to editors

Contact:

For PR enquiries: Emily Bennison; emilybennison@yahoo.co.uk; 07789 748970

For all other enquiries please contact Steenbergs: 01765 640088

www.steenbergs.co.uk

Certified or registered products:

Halal

Vegan Registered

Kosher Accredited

Over 250 Steenbergs products have been accredited by London Beth Din, including home baking extracts, salt blends, spices and teas. For a full list please contact sales@steenbergs.co.uk.

All products are available from selected independent retailers or online at www.steenbergs.co.uk.

About Steenbergs

Based in rural North Yorkshire, Steenbergs Organic was established in 2003 by

Axel and Sophie Steenberg.  Since the outset, we have been centred on sourcing and packing the best organic spices, herbs and teas that we can find.  We are one of the leaders in Fairtrade spices.  We also blend spices and herbs to our own recipes creating a range of organic seasonings.

What are our differentiating features:

Completely focused on organic and ethical trading – we source most of our spices direct from growers and grower groups, many of whom are in the developing world, eg India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Egypt, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey.  We know down to the region and often the exact 1 hectare farm who grew the spices or herbs.

One of the original Fairtrade spices businesses – we worked (and continue to work) with Fairtrade to develop standards for spices, becoming one of the first Fairtrade spices businesses (the other 2 were Italian), launching the first Fairtrade spices range in Europe.

Determined to develop organic and Fairtrade into the quality standard for spices – since the outset, we have been continuously developing the technical side of our spices and herbs.  We work with our producers to improve the quality of their raw materials, as well as having the widest range of low micro spices and herbs in the organic spices/herbs sector.  Our new factory is to the highest food technical standard with food grade wall throughout the production and warehouse area and resin floors.  At the same time, we brought in new metal detection, check sieving, blending and grinding capability.  All staff are trained in food hygiene and safety using external trainers.

Carbon neutral – we are committed to minimising our impact on the environment, so are carbon neutral now.  Steenbergs moved into new premises at the start of 2007 that include environmental features, such as sun pipes, green energy, low water use toilet, linoleum floors (in changing areas) and solar panels.