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Greenpoint Trading Co

Brand · Retailer · Specialty food shop

When you walk through the door of Greenpoint Trading Co.’s nondescript warehouse on an anonymous street in Brooklyn, the first thing that hits you is the smell. It’s a pungent and rich, even mouth-watering, mixture of paprika and coriander and garlic and more. The scents immediately transport you from the “Breaking Bad”-like setting – commercial mixers, industrial metal tubs, even a three-wheeled forklift – to a festive bar-b-que on a hot summer day. Founders Evan and Kimmee Hoffman began blending in 2011, with creative offerings for a relatively staid spice market. “We love coming up with new blends – taking typical seasonings and changing them up to make them our own,” explains Kimmee. Flavors are intentionally reminiscent of the couple’s experiences; the all-purpose BBQ rub Black Bear, for example, was named after a campsite in New York’s Catskill Mountains and is designed to complement a full range of fire-friendly meals. Greenpoint Trading Co. currently offers 35 flavors, with names like Dracula’s Nightmare (salt-free garlic seasoning), All Aboard (seafood) and Chicken Little (poultry and meat). All of their products are preservative, additive free & kosher. Evan, a veteran of the spice market, is constantly experimenting with new combinations, creating small batches of seasonings and rubs for friends and family. With samples arriving regularly, the possibilities are endless. Greenpoint Trading Co. is also exploring innovative ways to use conventional seasonings and rubs. “We’re trying to educate our customers to reinvent the way they use spice,” Evan says. “What if you ground T-Bone in a pepper mill or mixed it in a mortar? What if you tried All Aboard on something other than fish, or sprinkled some Black Bear on scrambled eggs?”