Not just for the veggies and vegans (goodnessdirect.co.uk)

Member Name: windwhisperer

Product:	goodnessdirect.co.uk
Date:	18/12/08 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy ordering, bulk buying, wide product choice

Disadvantages: Takes time to browse the site as the product range is vast.

If you happen to click on to Goodness Direct please don't be misled into thinking you have found a health food site that won't meet the needs of the basic shopper with a husband and couple of kids to feed - that simply isn't the case.
If however, you are one of those looking to either improve your eating habits and watch the pennies, then browse further and this company won't let you down.

No, you can't get bargain priced tinned tomatoes for 17p, but you can get a whole variety of products that would take you many of hours of trudging through shopping centres to locate, if you found them at all.

At Goodness Direct there is no trudging involved and delivery is free for orders over £35 if you live in a non-remote location.
For those of us who do live in a remote location, I would suggest their service is both very reasonably priced and pretty much invaluable!

Believe it or not I found this site whilst searching for Japanese Peppermint Oil (peppermint creams don't taste the same with the 'essences,') and it's not that easy to locate - but GD had it and at a very reasonable price.
Further investigation revealed that I could buy organic cocoa at a much cheaper price than my local shop, bulk bags of 'pop your own' popcorn, that lasts forever due to only needing the tiniest amount to get the biggest pan full and which worked out much, much cheaper than the microwave version.
You can also get speciality flours, wonderful organic juices that don't fill the kids full of additives, and every alternative to tea and coffee that your nervous system demands!

Remote dwellers will however be disappointed to note that fresh/frozen products are not available to them, however common sense tells us that this is purely a matter of practicality due to the transportation times involved, but everything else is, and I suggest you sit quietly at your pc and have a good browse. There are delivery fees involved with transporting goods to remote locations, (get your order over £35 and watch the courier delivery price drop!) but we are always aware this is going to be the case, however I don't think I've ever been charged over £9 by courier and this is for three large and heavy boxes of goodies. Since they had to travel a few hundred miles and make two ferry trips, you won't hear any complaint from me.

Another big plus of Goodness Direct is the ability to bulk buy rices, spices and seasonings. I've stocked up on 1kg packs of most of the spices I use regularly and wouldn't even now consider buying the smaller 50g pots that can run you up a fair bill at the shop.

Other things that are worth a mention:

They aren't limited to food products: you can also get body and hair care, books and lots more.

They often have special offers running in addition to their usual weekly discounts link from the homepage. My last order included 20% off all grocery products, which I feel is much better than collecting vouchers or points; you get the deduction immediately and can feel the saving.

They also run regular prize draws - no fuss involved - you simply email them with your details and then a prize turns up or not. Last month I won a lovely little mirror compact!

Finally a word about 'Customer Service.' Well, isn't that a phrase we see bandied about so much and lip service paid to. At Goodness Direct it is one of the rare, rare, companies, who actually put it into practice. Emails are answered within hours, problems are resolved (because sometimes even the best organisations do have problems) and apologies are profoundly issued.
My own problem revolved around an order which hadn't been dispatched - it was resolved immediately and I actually got the delivery BEFORE the estimated delivery date - you can't ask for more!

Summary: Healthy options with a product list that encourages you to think further than burger and chips!