Frequently Asked Questions
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Einkorn
Is einkorn gluten free?
No. Einkorn is a type of wheat, which contains gluten. However, since einkorn is the only wheat that’s never been hybridized, it’s gluten remains weak, unlike modern wheat, which makes it easier to digest. Einkorn is not safe for those with celiac disease, but many people with a gluten sensitivity are able to enjoy einkorn.Learn more here.
Can I use einkorn in my regular recipes 1:1 for all purpose flour?
We suggest checking out our baking tips and our recipes written specifically for einkorn wheat. Our recipes take the properties of einkorn into consideration for the best results.You can find our baking tips here.
Why is my bread so dense?
Weaker gluten and higher mineral content make for a denser crumb; einkorn gluten breaks rather than stretches.
Why is einkorn so expensive?
Our einkorn is one of the highest-quality ancient wheat flours available. Einkorn has never been hybridized for modern farming and the yield on einkorn is considerably less than that of modern wheat. Another reason the yield is smaller is because we grow it organically. We never treat it with pesticides or chemicals. In fact, it is certified USDA Organic and certified free from glyphosate residue by The Detox Project.
What is the difference between your AP flour and your WW flour?
Our whole wheat/whole grain flour is just our organic einkorn wheat berries ground into flour. Our AP (all-purpose) flour is the whole grain flour with a portion of the bran and germ removed so it's a little lighter and finer than our whole grain flour. It is also our most popular einkorn product. Our traditional pastas, cookies and crackers are made from the AP flour. Our whole wheat pasta is made from our whole wheat flour.
I'm on my third starter attempt! What am I doing wrong?
Fermentation takes patience but we are happy to help! Check out our sourdough FAQ here.And our sourdough videos here.
Gluten Free Pasta
How do you cook your brown rice pasta for best results?
Gluten free pasta should not be cooked or treated the same as semolina pasta. There are a few tips that will assure the best results and performance:
- Always cook in abundant water and minimize stirring to prevent breakage.
- Traditionally cooked pasta is ‘al dente’ or ‘to the tooth’ which may be slightly undercooked for some; taste testing is the only way to be sure if it is cooked to your preferred doneness.
- After draining, serve immediately after tossing lightly in sauce.
- Do not over sauce pasta or allow the pasta to sit in cooking liquid. It will continue to absorb liquid even after it is finished cooking, resulting in softer, delicate pasta that may break when stirred.
Do you test your brown rice pasta for arsenic?
We grow our rice in Italy. Our brown rice pastas are made with brown rice and water. We set our own limits at 10mcg per 100g. This is the standard we found on the World Health Organization, and we have maintained below that level. Arsenic is water-soluble so when you cook pasta, about 50% of the amount in the dry product ends up on the cooked, the rest is rinsed away with water. It is best to cook rice in abundant water.
Do you ferment the cassava flour to remove cyanide?
Our cassava pasta is made from just cassava/yucca with no fillers. Our cassava pasta is made from organic cassava root flour that has been heat treated to negate any chance of presence of cyanogenic glycosides.
What is a bronze die?
A bronze die is the ultimate pasta-making tool, a mold used in traditional Italian noodle cutting and shaping for centuries. Today, pasta factories normally use dies made of Teflon® because they are easier to work with. We use traditional bronze dies, which help to form a coarser surface on the pasta during extrusion. A coarser surface will absorb your favorite sauce better after being cooked.
How do you make your brown rice pasta?
Whole rice grains are soaked for 48 hours, they are then steamed, rolled like oatmeal, dried at low temperatures and milled into flour. The flour is mixed with water to form a very dry dough, then it is extruded through bronze dies to create the shape.
Beans
How do you cook your beans?
After being harvest from the fields they are scanned for debris from or cracked beans. Then they are soaked overnight, rinsed, added to sanitized jars, water is added (and for some of our beans lemon juice and/or sea salt), the lids are sanitized and close the jars, then each jar is cooked in batches in a gigantic pressure cooker.Learn more.
How long are the beans good for after opening the jar?
We suggest refrigeration after opening and then using within 5 days. They are shelf stable before opening, but like any canned or jarred foods, once opened they should be refrigerated.
Can I eat your beans right out of the jar or do I have to rinse them?
Rinsing is optional; they are packed in the cooking liquid and can be eaten right out of the jar, or rinsed-your preference.
Tomatoes
Do your tomatoes contain seeds and skins?
Our tomatoes are steamed to remove the skin, but they do contain seeds. Small bits of the skin may also remain.
Does your sauce contain sugar or salt?
Our jovial tomatoes are not sauce; they are just the freshly harvested naturally sweet tomatoes packed within a day of harvest, just like you would do at home with nothing added! Any of the three cuts can be used to make a delicious pasta or pizza sauce at home with a little onion, some garlic, herbs and olive oil.Here is one of our simple and delicious recipes.
How long do I have after opening to eat them?
We suggest refrigerating any unused portion and using within 5-7 days.
What kind of tomatoes are they?
We only use the ripest Roma type plum tomatoes available. They are not from San Marzano.
Jovial Reserve Blend Extra Virgin Olive OIl
Why doesn't your oil have a harvest date on it?
Typically, all products display a BEST BEFORE DATE not the date it was manufactured. Our oil indicates the bottling date plus two years which is the BEST BEFORE DATE. The harvest is always in the fall and the oil is always pressed at harvest time. Our olio nuovo is oil that is bottled at harvest. All other bottlings of oil for the year are blended at bottling time and will show a bottling date plus two years as a best by date.
Is your oil filtered?
Yes, our oil is filtered. Since our olive oil is certified organic, we use a pure biodegradable cellulose material to filter sediment.
Where is your olive oil from?
Our farms and press are located near the shores of Lake Garda just north of Verona in the northeast part of Italy where the olives ripen slowly and develop amazing flavor.
What olives are used to make your oil?
Our jovial reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a proprietary blend of 3 types of ancient olives: Favarol, Nostrano and Gringano.
What is the polyphenol count of your oil?
We share these details on each yearly harvest after analysis, but the polyphenol count of our reserve blend is always very high and usually above 400 ppm. The acidity remains below 4%. You can read about our most recent harvest here.
Farms and Producers
Do you manufacture in one place?
No, our products are made at specialized, smaller producers that are close to the source and farms where the products are grown or harvested. We have a close working relationship with all of our partners.
Do you own the farms?
We partner with small producers for our raw ingredients so that these farmers can concentrate on what they do best -growing organic foods. We visit often and have a presence at all our production facilities and consider many of these farmers and food artisans like family.
Do you use glyphosate or are your products at risk of pesticide drift?
No. Please find the Detox Project certification on most of our products proving that they have tested free of glyphosate. Italy has very strong regulations on the use of pesticides and in particular glyphosate. Our products are certified organic by QAI and non-GMO. Visit the Detox Project to read more.
What is The Detox Project?
The Detox Project provides independent certification, after rigorous testing, that a product is free of glyphosate.
Ecommerce shopping
What types of payment to you accept?
We take Visa, Mastercard and Discover and accept PayPal and AmazonPay.
Please check your order details before placing the order to confirm the shipping address is correct. If changes are needed, please contact us as soon as possible since our shipping turnaround time is usually less than 1 day. If you have an account with us, please visit the ‘my account/address book’ to add, modify or delete saved billing and shipping addresses.
How do I change my shipping address?
Please check your order details before placing the order to confirm the shipping address is correct. If changes are needed, please contact us as soon as possible since our shipping turnaround time is usually less than 1 day. If you have an account with us, please visit the ‘my account/address book’ to add, modify or delete saved billing and shipping addresses.
My order won't go through- why not?
If you are using a credit card, please be sure that you are using the correct billing address. Please check your email for an order confirmation; if you receive an order number, then your order DID go through.
How do I check the status of my order?
Most orders ship within 3-4 business days and you will receive an email with FedEx tracking once it ships. Please follow tracking number links there. If you are a customer, log in and navigate to the 'my orders' section of the 'my account' page. If you do not have a rewards account, please check your shipping status via your shipment confirmation email. We’re sorry but if you do not have an account with us, you will only be able to track your order via your shipment confirmation email or by calling us.
How do I cancel an order?
Please call or email us as soon as possible- once an order has shipped it cannot be cancelled. We ship Monday through Friday so if your order comes in over the weekend, it will ship the following Monday. We ship via FedEx from our warehouse in CT. Most orders will ship within 3-5 business days. Please find our full shipping and return policy here.
How do I get free shipping?
We ship free for orders over $99. If applying a discount code, your after-discount product total must be above $99 or you will pay shipping. Thank you for checking your total to be sure you are not paying shipping before proceeding to your payment! We do offer several lower threshold free shipping sales per year and as with our regular policy, order must remain above the threshold to receive free shipping. Please sign up for our enewsletter or for texts to be notified of these promotions.
Why didn't my discount appear on my first order?
Most discounts require a discount code be typed into the 'apply discount' field at checkout; some promotions discount whole categories and the discounted price will show on the product page in red. If you forgot or missed inputting the code, you can use it on any future order, or please contact us for an adjustment.
Why can't I reset my password?
Please be sure you have an account with us and that you are using the same email address you used when you signed up. Make sure you refresh your browser or open a new window after creating the new password. Signing up for our newsletter does NOT create a rewards account on our site.
I did not get an order confirmation email; where do I find it?
Your order confirmation email will go to the email you provided on the order, from your rewards account or the email provided by AmazonPay if you use that method to pay for your order.
Where can I find tracking for my purchase?
All shipments generate a shipment confirmation email with UPS Ground tracking. Please use this email to click the tracking link and to get status updates. Multi-box shipments may only show a master tracking number but UPS will show the total boxes in the shipment when you are on their site.
I only received part of my order? What happened?
Multibox shipments may arrive separately. Please allow 24 hours for the remaining boxes to be delivered. You can see the status of all boxes by following your tracking via the shipment confirmation email.
How do I contact you?
Email us anytime at info@jovialfoods.com. Please include your order # if you have questions or problems. Please do not reply to order confirmation emails or shipment confirmation emails. You can also call us M-F from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST at 860.535.0504
How do rewards points work?
$1 spent = 1 point. 100 points = $5. Your rewards will show at checkout as long as you are logged in and have at least 100 points. You do not earn points on orders that points are redeemed on. All details can be found here.
Do you ship to Canada or internationally?
No, due to high shipping costs we are not able to ship outside the contiguous US. Natura Market and Nature Sante are great options for those shopping in Canada but they do not carry all items. iHerb.com and Vitacost.com ship to Canada and several other countries around the world.
My order arrived damaged from Amazon- why won't you fix the order since I clicked from your site?
The Amazon button on our product pages redirects you to our only Amazon verified seller, Healthy Pantry. We do not process these shipments and cannot issue refunds or replacements. If you have problems with your Amazon order, please find your Amazon order confirmation in the 'my orders' section of Amazon and click through to the seller, Healthy Pantry, to resolve order issues.
Sustainability
What are your packing peanuts made of?
They are 100% biodegradable and made from a gluten free grain called sorghum. It can be composted or added to recycling and will fully break down when wet. We do not recommend trying to dispose of in sinks or tubs.
What other things is your company doing to protect the environment?
We are proud to run our Connecticut office and warehouse on solar power. Our products are all grown without pesticides and honoring the old ways and heirloom varieties to protect biodiversity, soil and water quality. We are also proud to package our products in recycled paper with compostable cellulose 'windows' as well as glass which is easily recyclable in all municipalities and can be reused for zero waste.