We are absolutely DELIGHTED to share some rather lovely news: Spice Kitchen has won the Community Champion Award at the Not On The High Street Small Brand Awards 2026!
The awards celebrate the creativity, passion and entrepreneurial spirit of the thousands of independent businesses that make up the Not On The High Street community. To be recognised among so many brilliant small brands is incredibly special. To win an award for something that has always been at the heart of Spice Kitchen means even more.
A Business Built Around People
What began as one spice tin, dressed in a beautiful sari wrap by Shashi and listed on eBay on Boxing Day, has grown into a family business whose products are now stocked by hundreds of independent retailers across the UK.
But Spice Kitchen has never been only about what we sell. It is about the people, stories and connections surrounding every tin.
It is Shashi and our sari-wrapping team, giving beautiful fabrics a new life by turning them into gifts. It is our team working together across different countries and communities. It is the independent shopkeepers who introduce our products to their customers. It is the cooks, growers, collaborators and food writers who help us celebrate spices and the cultures they come from.
And, of course, it is every person who chooses to buy from a small family business.
Creating A Positive Impact
We believe business can be a force for good, even through small, everyday decisions.
Our sari wraps are made using upcycled or donated sari fabric, helping us reduce waste while ensuring every tin is completely unique. Through our partnership with the Akshaya Patra Foundation, every sari-wrapped spice tin sold also helps provide a school meal for a child in India.
We are proud to create flexible, meaningful employment and to work with people whose contribution might not always fit neatly into a conventional workplace. We also try to use our platform to celebrate heritage, family knowledge and the extraordinary way food can bring people together.
For us, community is not a separate project or a box to tick. It is woven into how Spice Kitchen began and how we continue to grow.
“This Award Belongs To Our Whole Community”
Speaking about the win, Spice Kitchen co-founder Sanjay Aggarwal said:
“We are genuinely over the moon to receive the Community Champion Award. Spice Kitchen started as a way to give Mum a sense of purpose in retirement, and from the very beginning it has been about so much more than spices.
“It is about family, bringing people together through food and creating opportunities to make a positive difference. This award belongs to our whole community: our wonderful team, our customers, our independent retailers, our charity partners and everyone who has supported us along the way. We could never have built Spice Kitchen without them.”
Pascal Schuster, CEO of Not On The High Street, described small businesses as “the heartbeat of our community and the backbone of UK business”, praising the talent, innovation and passion shown by this year’s winners and nominees.
Thank YOU For Being Part Of Our Story
Awards like this give us a rare opportunity to stop, look back and appreciate just how far Spice Kitchen has come since that first family conversation on Christmas Day.
To Not On The High Street, thank you for recognising the values behind our business. And to every person who has bought a tin, cooked one of our recipes, stocked our products, shared our story or recommended us to somebody else: thank you.
This award is yours too.