Pickling is a traditional practice in many Indian homes and communities. It has been part of India’s culinary culture for generations. Fresh vegetables and fruits dipped in oil mixed with salt and spices and then fermented to preserve for a longer duration. Throughout the country pickling is a regular practice. Each region has its distinctive style and flavour. As we see the increased waves of migration from rural to urban neighbourhoods in search of livelihood, people often become conduits of the taste of home, carrying its imprint as they move.

The story of Little Indian Spice is wistfully woven around the nostalgic taste of home. Sonu Saini after working for more than a decade with the State Bank of India, as deputy manager left her comfortable job to take on the challenge of entrepreneurship. The offspring of her time with her colleagues and friends in her professional life was the realisation that people crave that authentic regional culinary experience.

The Little Indian Spice was founded in August 2023. Sonu started collaborating with regional picklepreneurs who specialized in the craft of pickle making. These pickles are created without applying any preservatives using homemade recipes. Soon enough Sonu Saini was not only pursuing her entrepreneurial venture but also empowering the lives of rural women in India from 6 different states: Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh.

The Little Indian Spice have 17 stock-keeping units and plans to deliver pickles from each state. Sonu Saini has the ambition to capture the flavours of South India and Northeast in its pickle jar by next year and wants to deliver these succulent savouries to the global market. In India Pickle Market is valued at $562.3 million and growing at a CAGR of 5.7%. The D2C brand, since its inception in August 2023, had made a revenue of 15 lakh in FY24. It aims to achieve a revenue of 1.5 crores in the current fiscal year. It has 2.5K customers and is primarily available through online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, its D2C sites and premium retail stores in Jaipur.

The journey of every enterprise is marred with challenges, and Saini’s Little Indian Spice also had to face its fair share. At first, the prospect of abandoning a secure government job was incomprehensible to many. Moreover, establishing a network of pickle makers was the biggest hurdle. However, the D2C brand owner showed tremendous perseverance, she traversed through the six states to bring quality pickle makers into her team. Saini also organized the process of training the home-based pickle makers to standardize the process and implement quality norms. In each hub, they have a team of 5-7 women, and they are mentored by a supervisor. This team is responsible for sourcing fresh fruits and vegetables, which is also no easy task. They produce the pickles pack and ship them to a centralized distribution hub. The regional taste was then packed in a jar and delivered to the warehouse of Little Indian Spice. These are then branded and distributed by online and offline markets. Saini provides them with fair compensation and favourable ecosystem training and skill development opportunities. The brand has 30 picklepreneurs in its team and operates teams in six states.

The Little Indian Spice is backed by iStart Rajasthan, a state-led programme helping local entrepreneurs with funding, infrastructure mentorship and networking opportunities. It had also received a grant from the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme. It faces competition from other famous D2C pickle brands like FarmDidi, and JhaJi.

India has a rich culinary tradition and pickle-making has been a pertinent part of that art. However, modern technology has made that art obsolete. Store-bought pickles produced with chemical preservatives and machinery are dominating the market. LIS claims that their delicacy is a preservative-free heirloom.  In this robust centralized distribution of the pickle market, Little Indian Spice’s decentralized approach is seemingly fresh and different.