Sandy Samuel Jerome, CEO & Co-Founder, Somey’s Kitchen brings traditional home-made pickled masalas to the global market.

FOUNDED ORIGINALLY in London, Somey’s Kitchen is named after Jerome’s mother ‘Somey Samuel’. “An exceptional cook since the age of 9 and still continues to be as she will soon turn 60. With a passion for hospitality, she enjoys cooking and serving guests all the time. In honour of her recipes, I named the brand as Somey’s Kitchen and want to take her recipes to the global food market,” said Jerome.

Sandy, along with her husband, Joel Jerome, launched the company in 2015 in UK, when they realised that despite Chicken Tikka Masala is the national dish of UK and their love for Indian food in general, there was lack of authentic seafood and meat pickled masalas in the market. The duo formed Somey’s Kitchen with non-veg and seafood pickled masalas based on the recipes of Mrs Somey. They soon established their first formal production unit in Bengaluru in 2017 and began retailing fish, chicken and prawn pickled masalas. Both plan to expand to include a wide variety of Indian ready-to-eat foods including traditional whole-wheat, organic and gluten-free chapatis and pooris.

Aimed to create a successful business amidst the four pillars – great tasting food, value for money, healthy living and transforming lives of less fortunate – so far the company has invested over $1.2 million USD in UK and India. The turnover started in April 2018 in India and the forecast for the first year is to hit $1 million USD. “We plan to grow to $25 million USD by the end of 2020,” informed Jerome.

“Somey’s Kitchen has the vision to focus on unique and speciality food with products in two categories: 1) Pickled Masala’s in Chicken and Prawn originated from the meat and seafood pickles from Kerala. A masala spread that can be consumed to spice up your main meal. With a shelf life of 6 months, this product is common among working couples. We are also planning a range of veg pickled masala and will soon launch Brinjal Pickled Masala by Aug 2018. 2) Indian Breads - Organic chapatti and poori; Gluten Free chapatti and poori,” said Jerome.

With the company’s launch in India in May, Somey’s Kitchen is now planning to market in 10 major cities of India. Currently, it has tied up with Godrej’s Nature's Basket, Star Bazaar, Big Bazaar, Big Basket to cover Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. It has also employed a sales team and tied up with distributors to open up the general trade market in these cities. The products are available on Amazon India and Big Basket also.

“On the marketing front, we believe in in-store promotions to drive sales and brand awareness. Also, since the target market is the middle and upper middle class, social media marketing and connecting with influencers is the best approach to drive the brand image of the company,” she said.