It’s great to see that after all this time Penzeys Spices still produces one of the best print catalogs around. But it’s disheartening to see that Penzeys still hasn’t managed to take full advantage of the Internet.

The print catalog has it all: loads of recipes to ensure that recipients keep each issue in their kitchen for months, if not years; detailed copy that emphasizes why anyone who cooks needs to have more than salt and pepper in their kitchen cabinet; testimonials and photos from customers that personalize the brand and reinforce Penzeys’ credibility and standing in the field; great photography and design; smart product bundles (the Steak Seasonings Gift Box, the Kitchen of Provence Gift Crate). Each edition makes me want to rush to the Web site and place an order (though I think I’d better wait till I have a kitchen again).

But the edit letter in the Spring 2010 hints at Penzeys’ lack of interest in e-commerce: “Whether you shop in-person or through the mail,” writes founder Bill Penzeys, “the real value of Penzeys happens in your kitchen.” What about if you shop online? Granted, it’s a small oversight, but a harbinger of a big problem: a serious disconnect between the print and Web channels.

The catalog does include the URL on the footer of each spread, and there are occasional throws to the Web site: “For nutritional information on all of our soup bases, visit www.penzeys.com/soup.html”; “For complete nutritional information on all recipes in this catalog, plus even more stories and recipes, visit www.penzeys.com.”

When you do visit the site, though, it’s a real letdown. Gone is the slick professionalism and lively personality of the catalog. Instead you come to a home page that’s an esthetic throwback to 1997, with an excess of fonts, a blank right-hand third of the page, and several old-fashioned icons.

When you click the “online store” link—there are no products on the home page, nor a directory of product categories—you come to another product-free page that explains the three ways to shop (Express Ordering, Online Catalogue Ordering, and Gift Ordering). What if you want to order for yourself while you’re buying a gift? This page certainly discourages it. There’s also a drop-down menu that repeats the three ordering options as well as offers the product categories.

The product category pages are simply lists of the products with links—no photos, minimal selling copy. The product pages provide more-detailed content, but still no photos nor any links to recipes that use the products. And there’s no breadcrumb trail or other navigational devices other than the drop-down menu and the search box.

The home page has a link to the recipes section; the category and product pages do not. The recipes are listed according to which issue of the catalog they appeared in and are not searchable.

And while the print catalog creates a sense of community, with its reader submissions, photos, and bios, the Web site has just a link on the home page to the reader-submitted recipes and stories featured in the current catalog. Those recipe pages include the ability to order the necessary spices directly on page—a great ideal that Penzeys should include on all its recipe pages.

The site has no forum for customers to swap recipes and cooking hints; no ratings and reviews function—none of the content that would increase return visits and length of visits, boost search engine rankings, create buzz and viral marketing. In short, it has none of the social niceties that the Internet has refined and made its own. It’s ironic that Penzeys has managed to make its print channel interactive and sticky yet fails to do the same in the medium that is the apotheosis of interactivity and stickiness.

It’s also sad. Because Penzeys is a great company that sells great products. When I received the catalog yesterday, my mother-in-law, with whom I’m temporarily living, enthused about the wonderful gift set she recently sent a friend. A former neighbor raved about his Penzeys spices every time we went over there for a barbecue. You get a sense of this infectious fervor from the catalog but, alas, not from the Web site. And a company like Penzeys Spices should not be content with a bland, flavorless online presence.