The Gluten-Free Homemaker

When I was contacted by Handy to review their gluten-free crab cakes, I was thrilled.  I hadn’t eaten a crab cake in many years because I never made them myself, and those I could purchase in stores or at restaurants were not gluten free.  Originally, these crab cakes were not dairy free, but the company listened to consumers and now they are!  Not only that, they are certified gluten free by the GFCO, which gave me confidence that they were safe to consume.

I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed eating these crab cakes.  They contain large chunks of crab meat, have nice flavor, and hold together well.

The crab cakes are shipped frozen, and the price listed on their site includes FedEx 2nd day air shipping.  They can also be found locally in some locations, which greatly reduces the cost.  The biggest drawback to these crab cakes is their cost.  Even with shipping, $69.99 for a box of 6 is out of most people’s price range.  If I’m going to spend that much money for a special treat, I would rather go to a restaurant and have some one else do the cooking.

My son who works at a university concession stand informed me that they charge $9.75 for a single crab cake on a bun, and the crab cake is smaller and not as good as these Handy crab cakes.  That does put it in perspective a little bit, but you are paying for the convenience and cooking in that situation.

Shirley of gluten free easily also reviewed these crab cakes.  She received a response from Kevin Voisin or Handy International regarding the pricing.  I would like to quote it here:

“Crab Cake Pricing

There is no doubt that the least expensive way and best way to enjoy our crab cakes is to buy them locally from a grocery store near you. Far from competition, we see local retailers as essential partners in supplying the gluten-free community with the great food products they want and need. You can find a list of retailers who carry the product near you by visiting http://www.glutenfreecrabcake.com/pages/buy-locally .

The shipping involved in getting the product direct to a consumer’s door certainly adds to the pricing, but we thought it was important to give the entire gluten-free community access to this product right away – even those located far from our retail outlets. We included shipping in the price of every package so there were no hidden costs to you.”

Another thing that surprised me about these cakes is that although the company is located in Salisbury, Maryland, they do not use Maryland crabs as I naturally assumed they would.  The crab cakes are a product of Thailand.  This issue was also addressed in the response Shirley received.

“Ingredients from Thailand

These cakes are made in Thailand where fresh blue crab meat is available year round which gives us the best flavor and also sufficient supply. Fresh blue crab meat is not available in the U.S. year round and the supply is limited.

We subject ourselves to independent testing by Silliker, a top inspection firm used by Whole foods and Costco. Handy’s plants have received Silliker’s gold certificate – an achievement only the top 10% of inspected companies achieve. Handy is also a founding member of the National Fisheries Institute’s Crab Council, a groundbreaking group focused on creating a more sustainable seafood offering, and works diligently to provide the most consistent high quality products the crab community has to offer.”

I am impressed with the communication this company has provided.  Kevin Voisin even responded to several comments in Shirley’s post.  The crab cakes they originally sent me were not dairy free, and they were quick to send me a package of the reformulated version.  They have been terrific to work with.

In conclusion, I thought the crab cakes were delicious, and I would happily eat them again, if the price was right.

The Giveaway
One winner will receive a Gluten-Free Taster package containing 6 gluten-free Handy Crab Cakes.  You must have a shipping address (no PO Box) within the continental US or Hawaii. 

To enter, you must leave a comment on this post.  If you receive this post by email, you need to click over to my blog and leave a comment.  Leave a separate comment for each entry.  Please include an email address in your first comment.  Up to four entries per person:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email (or tell me you already do) and leave a comment
• Like me on Facebook (or tell me you already do) and leave a comment
• Follow me on Twitter (or tell me you already do) and leave a comment

The giveaway will end on Saturday, February 19th at 11:00 pm eastern time.  After the winner is contacted, I will announce the winner on my Facebook page.

Disclaimer:  I was provided with crab cakes free of charge.  The opinions in this post are my own.

Labels: giveaway, reviews