Husband and wife team Aarjit Iyer and Megna Murali are spicing up kitchens from Australia to Norway with their spice business inspired by their Indian heritage.
The self-funded passion project provides customers with exotic spice blends from around the world. From an Indian curry spice mixes, to a Korean kimchi blend, they aim to help home chefs explore different cultures in cooking.
Megna said the idea started 18 months ago when she wanted to cook a chicken tagine, but couldn't find enough spices at her local grocery store to make the recipe.
“We both have an Indian background and cooking with spices is just so common, every family has their own recipes and they make everything fresh and they grind spices themselves,” Megna said.
As a child, she was always fascinated by her family using a mortar and pestle to grind their own spices for dishes.
“Our grandmothers used to do everything by hand. This was pre having grinders and food processors and they would grind spices every day,” Megna said.
The business works on a subscription model, where customers can sign up to receive three types of spices on a monthly basis.
The challenge for Aarjit and Megna was finding the raw materials to create the diverse spice range of their dreams.
With a background in food science, Aarjit was determined to solve the problem of finding the right spices for their business.
Eventually, the couple had to look into purchasing spices wholesale.
Spice Quarter currently offers 45 mixes of spices, with 25 more in development.
Arjhit says the challenge of managing the business, while both juggling their full-time jobs in retail, has spiced up their relationship too.
“I think it’s good that we don’t agree on everything because if we have an argument, that makes it more interesting."
"I mean if it was all good I don’t think it would be that fun!” he jokes.
Megna says the business has about 80 subscribers every month.
“Business is ticking along nicely. I think our challenge now is that we want to evolve it and add more varieties of blends, and more offerings for the customers."
