Mother-and-son Shashi and Sanjay Aggarwal, founders of Spice Kitchen, will be the third business to pitch on tonight’s episode of Dragons’ Den.
Launched in 2012, they sell handcrafted spice blends and collections in traditional Indian stainless steel masala tins. They also sell spiced chocolates, hot chocolate and cookbooks.
Aggarwal is the self-styled ‘chief spice officer’ at Spice Kitchen. He wrote on LinkedIn of his experience in the Den with his mum: “Standing beside her as those lift doors opened is something I’ll never forget. I was SOOO flipping nervous while she was calm as you like.
“You all know that Spice Kitchen began with mum, her phenomenal spice cookery and conversations around our family kitchen table, so stepping into the Den together felt like a very special moment in our story.
“It dawned on us a few weeks ago that at 76, mum is believed to be one of the oldest entrepreneurs ever to pitch on the programme. 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.”
Their pitch follows Cicely Coops, founder of Selkie, and John Gray and Sean Robinson, founders of retro sweet shop Mr Swainstons.
Following Shashi and Sanjay is Louise Truman, the London-based founder of Plotpackers.
Series 23 of Dragons’ Den returned to our screens tonight after the summer break.
Episode 8 sees the return of guest judges Susie Ma and Jenna Meek – the commerce queens who made their debuts earlier in the series – alongside regular Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett.
With female Dragons outnumbering the males for the first time, it signals a power shift in the Den… this series will be the last one featuring Touker Suleyman, who announced earlier this year that he would be leaving the show after more than a decade in the Den.