Where they grow has a huge impact on their taste. Working as a food writer, I studied emerging trends and watched categories like tea, coffee, chocolate become more provenance-driven. Spices stayed stuck in the past. The dusty little jars are often listed as coming from 'countries of multiple origins' and taste - well - there's a reason that keen cooks often fill their rucksack with spices from foreign markets before they come back home.
I started tracking down spices which came from countries known for having the best climate and generations of expertise when it came to harvesting them. I found top quality turmeric from India, bright green cardamom pods from Guatemala and dark, oily Pul Biber from Turkey. I started selling them directly to customers online -- and quickly built up a customer base of keen home cooks who understood that cooking with fresh and potent spices really made a world of difference.
The company launched in April 2018. I hand-packaged the first 10,000 spices and quickly moved out of my kitchen to a warehouse on Fish Island, East London. There the company went from strength to strength -- from winning the mentoriship of Gizzi Erskine to being covered by The Sunday Times. There are plenty of exciting things just round the corner, watch this space ...
