“My mum was unfulfilled. I remember her being really bored, like, ‘I want something to do.’ So I came up with this idea,” says Sanjay Aggarwal. As retirement hobbies go, they don’t get much more successful than Spice Kitchen. More than a decade later, what began as something to keep mum Shashi Aggarwal contented after she stopped working has evolved into a business selling spices valued in six figures to international markets.
Spice Kitchen is a homegrown business; on Christmas Day 2012, the Aggarwals listed a masala dabba (spice tin) featuring Shashi’s homemade blends on eBay. By Boxing Day it had sold. Adventures along the way have included freezing cold days at Altrincham market and Shashi using her sewing skills to turn unused saris into spice tin gift wrap. Now the company stocks a range of award-winning food products, with spice tins still lovingly wrapped in saris, and it even has its own cookbook.
