🚀 Your Weekly Slice of UK Consumer Startups #29

Spice Dept works directly with farmers and farm partners across India and Sri Lanka to source the freshest, best-tasting spices.

I used to live in Delhi and when I was there my own cooking never tasted better. I became bolder with my use of spices, and they quickly became the magic that elevated my meals. When I moved back to the UK, I struggled to make my food taste as good. I did some digging and realised that supermarket spices here are often 3 to 5 years old before you even buy them. They are stale, dull and lifeless. Since then, I have been obsessed with finding a way to bring better spices to the UK.

Like in so many categories, spices are traded as commodities. Price always wins and the UK consumer has become used to something that is far removed from what it should taste like. There are blends and seasonings that have made a dent into the category, but no one is really looking at the core ingredient the spices themselves. This is what has been missing. No one has been obsessed with the flavour of cumin seeds or the green cardamom they are sourcing until now.

It is shocking to me that you are hardly ever told which country the spice you are buying is from, let alone when it was harvested. For us, this is what transparency is all about. We will always tell you when the spice was harvested and exactly where it was grown.

For example, our latest batch of Nutmeg was harvested in August 2025 by a group of farmers near a small village called Gomagoda, Sri Lanka, and will be available for purchase in December. We work with farm partners across India and Sri Lanka and ensure that our spices are grown in a sustainable way and using no pesticides. We also pay our farmers fairly, for example in Sri Lanka our cinnamon farmers are paid 40 percent above the market price.

To compete on shelf, we knew that our product had to stand out. Throughout the process of creating Spice Dept., I became obsessed with brand as I knew that having an incredible product and a strong story was not enough. We wanted to create beautiful tins that mirrored the amazing spices inside, so consumers would want to display them on their kitchen shelf or pop them on their table. We also want to shift people’s perspective on spices so they no longer hide them at the back of their cupboard. Instead we want people to have them easily to hand, so they can elevate their everyday cooking.

We are very much at the start of our journey but things are moving fast and we have exciting things in the pipeline. We will be growing our online business as well as moving into retail. We are also expanding our spice range and adding a range of sensational blends. There are some exciting collaborations and partnerships to announce too, so watch this space.