What was the inspiration behind your company and how does this show in your company ethos?
Our House of Spice is owned by my sister Nadia and I. While we were growing up, we watched our grandparents and parents cook delicious Indian food for friends and neighbours. We quickly learnt that Indian food brings people together. When Nadia and I took the plunge into self-employment back in 2012, we wanted to provide tasty and healthy Indian food for customers to enjoy at home. This was where our spice kit range was born.
What is your main target market currently? And what market would you like to grow into more?
We have a range of spice kits that are popular in the retail industry. We also have recently launched our new Catering Spice Kits for the foodservice industry. These kits serve up to 120 portions per container and include an easy to follow the traditional family recipe. The Catering Kits are proving an exciting addition to hotels and restaurants. This is a market which we definitely want to explore further by increasing the range to include more curries and desserts.
What are your short and long term goals? Currently, we are promoting our spice kits at various shows and events around the UK. Our cooking demonstrations are a great way to meet new customers. We have also gained a loyal following of customers who come to each of our events so it’s great to see them again. Our long term goal includes exporting our spice kits around Europe which is an exciting project for us.
What makes Your business stand out and unique? Our House of Spice is a proud family business. We only use traditional recipes which were taught to us by our parents and grandparents. We love experimenting with recipes and look forward to extending the range. Our Catering Spice Kits are new to the industry and are a product that is gaining popularity. The product range has gained recognition for high quality, easy to follow recipes and its taste.
Where do your design ideas come from for the products? When designing our packaging for the spice kits, we were clear that we wanted to use bold colours. This allows them to stand out on the shelves as well as gives a ‘fun’ element to the design. Cooking should be exciting and interactive so we wanted to convey that in our packaging designs.
What would you say your proudest moment has been? We were awarded Best Small Business and Rising Start for Scotland at the National Family Business Awards. This was such a proud moment for us. Owning a business is not easy and to receive these awards were a great celebration of all the hard work we have put into Our House of Spice.
What is your best selling product and why do you think that is? Our Masala Curry Catering Kit is one of our most popular spice kits. It’s a signature curry and is a blend of 8 different herbs and spices. This also happens to be my favourite too as it is such a versatile recipe. It’s so easy to make and can be made with white/red meat as well as fish and chunky vegetables too. I recently made this with venison and it was absolutely delicious! 
