Liverpool-based Spice Kitchen may have left Dragons’ Den empty-handed, but its TV appearance has resulted in a 1,000 per cent spike in sales.
On Thursday, millions of people watched mother-and-son Shashi and Sanjay Aggarwal pitch to the Dragons.
Sanjay Aggarwal, the self-styled ‘chief spice officer’ at Spice Kitchen, said the company had enjoyed a 1,000 per cent year-on-year increase in sales following its appearance in the Den.
The company’s products are already stocked by 700 retailers, but several new retailers have submitted orders following its brush with fame.
Spice Kitchen was approached by the programme makers to appear, and Sanjay told BusinessCloud: “I wasn’t expecting the number of messages from friends and family and retailers.
“I was worried about the edit in some ways but it was very kind. They showed all the best parts and highlighted my relationship with my mum.”
He said his 76-year-old mum didn’t lose a ‘wink of sleep’ over her appearance on the hit BBC One show – unlike him.
“Mum wasn’t that keen on doing it but she was so unfazed while I was really stressing about it.”
Inspiration
Sanjay said he hoped his mum would inspire other people to set up businesses later in life.
“She’s an inspiration and it’s never too late to start,” he said. “We think she’s the oldest entrepreneur to walk into the Den.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her, or more grateful that we got to take this particular leap of faith together.
“To all the founders and small-business owners in my network: you’ll know just how much courage it takes to put yourself and your business out there.”
Sanjay recalled the moment on Christmas Day 2012 when they came up with the idea for Spice Kitchen.
“We were sitting around the Christmas dinner table and my mum said ‘I’m really bored, what can I do?’”
They began talking about creating a beautiful sari-wrapped spice tin that people would love to give and be excited to cook from.
“We put the first Indian spice tin on eBay on Christmas Day and it was sold by Boxing Day,” he recalled.
Today, the company has grown turnover to £1m by selling handcrafted spice blends and collections in traditional Indian stainless steel masala tins.
It also sells spiced chocolates, hot chocolate and cookbooks online and through a network of retailers, and employs 12 staff.
Although Susie Ma, Jenna Meek, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett didn’t invest, they offered some useful advice and said an investor could change the dynamic of the business.
The episode was filmed in May 2025, and Sanjay said: “We got some really good advice on profitability and I took onboard what the Dragons said. We’ve invested heavily and improved the margin.
“It was never set up as a fast-growing mass market product. It’s a passion product.”