Semi-finalist Q&A: Knox's Spice Company

Knox's Spice creates and manufactures gourmet all natural spice blends. The company is on a mission to provide aromatic, flavorful dry rubs made with highest quality herbs and spices available.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don't forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I have a professional background in business and technology strategy but went into the non-profit sector a few years ago to make a ‘hands-on’ difference.

Knox’s Spice Co. was formed as we bbq, grill and cook a lot. We had been purchasing spice blends for some time and realized how cheaply they are blended using a lot of salt and even coloring agents, non-clogging agents and fillers. Typically we found commercial blends less than exciting ro authentic. We thought we could do better, this was 2004. We developed recipes from our family recipes for the favorite cuisines; Spanish, Jamaican and Brazilian and this was when our all-natural Chipotle BBQ, Jamaican Jerk and Cracked Pepper dry rub spice blends were born. We are currently trying to release a Salt Free line for Caribbean and Mexican blends as well as an all natural pepper sauce or two.

What do you love most about running your own business?

I would have to say running the business is not nearly as exciting to me than creating the blends and testing them out. But my favorite aspect is creating marketing materials when we have the budget for it.

What makes your business unique?

I think what makes Knox’s Spice Co unique is that we stick to our guns. We create all natural spice blends and under no circumstance do we cheapen our recipes for the sake of production cost. Our blends are expensive to produce comparatively but we feel are of the highest quality. Quality not quantity. Our consumer base has realized it and we continue to slowly grow. Also we are very personable and if you were to contact us chances are a family member would respond.

What are some of your top business-related accomplishments, or business lessons learned?

We have learned plenty since starting our company. I think the hardest hurdle is making sure our ingredients are high quality and making sure our recipes are reproduced exactly. Second would be sales. We did not know anything about sales but have become a bit better at utilizing our network and reaching out.

Why should the Idea Cafe regulars vote for you?

We are a tiny company with no backing and little capital for anything but maintaining our inventory. A grant would give us some marketing flexibility to get our word out and in the hands of buyers. I constantly aid anybody who calls including individuals looking to produce their own spice blends. We feel a grant could aid in launching us towards our primary goal to open our own facility and to co-pack for other companies who start out really small but cannot find resources within their budgets or cannot find packers who have low minimums. From our experience we feel there is a need for such services for up and growing companies who are starting out.

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