In 2012, Ethan Frisch was working for a development organization in Afghanistan when he saw a vendor selling wild cumin at a local market.
“I thought I knew a lot about spices,” Frisch, 38, said, recalling his experience at a market in Badakhshan province. “But I had never tasted anything like this.”
In addition to London, where he attended the School of International Development, Mr. Frisch worked as a cook in New York, including a stint at Tabla, an upscale Indian restaurant by chef Floyd Cardos and restaurateur Danny Meyer. He began bringing bags of cumin back to New York to share with friends in the restaurant industry, each flavor receiving rave reviews. He realized that there was a market for spices sourced directly from farmers.
In 2016, he founded Burlap & Barrel, a single-origin spice company, with his friend Ori Zohar. The two collaborated several years ago on Guerrilla Ice Cream, a mobile ice cream cart that offered flavors inspired by political and activist movements. Zohar comes from a business background working in marketing and advertising, and helped found a tech startup that closed in 2017.
Frisch poured his savings (about $20,000) into starting the business. He ran it from his one-bedroom apartment in Queens, calling restaurants and showing up in the kitchen with a backpack full of spices to provide flavors to the chefs. He used the skills and connections he developed while working with the Aga Khan Foundation on rural infrastructure projects in Afghanistan and managing logistics for Médecins Sans Frontières in Jordan to build a base of spice suppliers. I did.
For years, Mr. Frisch and Mr. Zohar have flown overseas to stock up on inventory, returning with duffel bags filled with things like cardamom, cumin and nutmeg. They would bring back enough spices to “cover their travel expenses,” Frisch said. (“I had some interesting conversations with customs officials,” he added.)
In 2019, Burlap & Barrel embarked on its first chef collaboration, developing a line of blended masala spices with Cardos.
Even after Mr. Cardos passed away from COVID-19 in March 2020, his wife Barka Cardos continued to work with Burlap & Barrel, commemorating his 60th birthday in October 2020. and released a blend. The company had over 1,000 orders that day, making it its biggest sales day at the time.
The founders realized there was a “way to connect chefs with the home cooking audience through spice blends,” and collaboration became the core of their business, Frisch said. During the early months of the pandemic, Frisch and Zohar noticed an increase in orders as more people made meals at home.
Another breakthrough moment came in April 2023 when he appeared on the reality show “Shark Tank.”
“It doesn't even taste like traditional cinnamon,” Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays the role of “Shark,” said after trying the brand's Vietnamese Royal Cinnamon. “It's a unique taste.”
Although Mr. Frisch and Mr. Zohar ultimately did not reach a contract, their name recognition increased and the number of new customers increased rapidly. The company's sales in 2024 were about $9 million, Frisch said.
Over the years they have collaborated with chefs including Mark Murphy. Ashley Shanti; New York Times contributors Sohra and Ham El-Wayly; and fashion designer and cookbook author Peter Som. Recently, they collaborated with Martha Stewart on a chicken seasoning and with Jane Goodall on a jar of honey from the Miombo Forest in Tanzania.
More than eight years later, what started as a silly passion project has grown into a growing brand with high-profile collaborations, home cooking enthusiasts, celebrity fans and a background cameo on the FX show “The Bear.” and became a social enterprise.
Chef Omar Tate and Sybil St. Ord, founders of Honeysuckle Provisions, an African-centric grocery store and cafe in West Philadelphia named one of Eater's Best New Restaurants of 2023 Tate has collaborated with Burlap & Barrel. Tate said they wanted to work with them because of the pure flavor of their spices and their ethical and intentional approach when working with farmers.
“They're making sure that the communities they source from are respected. They're redistributing that wealth back to the communities, not just through the raw materials they extract and exports for profit.” said. Tate said.
Lower Manhattan's Hannis Bakery and Cafe, a new spot from former Gramercy Tavern pastry chef Milo Uskokovic and his wife, Bon Appétit magazine editor Shilpa Uskokovic, offers Burlap & Barrel Royal on its popular malt cinnamon buns. Cinnamon is used.
Cinnamon “is the only thing we've found that provides the right combination of strength and florality that rivals cream cheese and butter,” Uskokovic wrote in an email.
“As chefs, what we always lack is traceability and transparency of spices and herbs,” said Rick Bayless, a prominent Chicago chef and restaurateur specializing in Mexican cuisine. “When I found Burlap & Barrel, I wanted to get to know them and see what they were doing. Because we were talking about what's going on.”
Transparency and storytelling are at the heart of business. As a so-called public interest corporation, or a for-profit company focused on contributing to social good, Burlap & Barrel aims to “connect small farmers to high-value markets,” Zohar, 39, said. spoke.
“Our business is successful because we pay our farmers more money, so they don't just grow the spices, they clean them, dry them, grind them, It can be prepared for export,” he said. .
The company now consists of 20 people, most of them contractors, who work with farmers in about 30 countries, including Vietnam, Turkey and Guatemala, often assisting with the logistics of the export process. The founders visit farms to meet with farmers and see first-hand the practices and products of each potential partner.
Shadel Nyack-Compton, owner and managing director of Belmont Estate, a family farm and tourist destination in Grenada, works with Burlap & Barrel to sell nutmeg and bay leaves. The farm, whose main crop is cocoa, has been in her family for 80 years.
In 2021, Nyack Compton discovered Burlap & Barrel online. She was looking for new business and wanted to work with a company that was interested in building relationships with farmers. “We want our stories to be told,” she said.
“Spice has many meanings to different people,” Frisch said. “Spice jars can be a way to tell stories, evoke memories, teach about culture and cuisine, and give someone the opportunity to cook their own food in a different way.”
Nyack-Compton said Burlap & Barrel is unique because it is committed to “establishing this kind of fair and transparent supply chain,” an approach commonly seen in the cocoa and chocolate sector. She said that she would be able to do it. He said, “It's very innovative'' because it has a lot of spice.
