A little more than six months after investing in a relaunch of its bottle labeling and branding, updating its e-commerce platform and finding a manufacturing partner, Maazah, the St. Paul-based, family-owned food company that makes Afghan-style chutney, is seeing a growing return on that expenditure.
The company's condiments are sold in more than a dozen independent markets in mostly Minnesota, but also Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. Online sales also have been booming, and the company's CEO hopes recent acceptance into a Minneapolis-based food accelerator and presence in St. Paul food hall Keg and Case will further fuel that growth.
The company used a loan in November to invest in e-commerce and other needs. Within months, e-commerce sales were jumping, thanks in part to the company being featured in a New York Times article and on the Food Network, said Yasameen Sajady, co-founder and chief executive.
Initially, Sajady and her family didn't anticipate improvements to their online presence playing a large factor in their growth. But now, it accounts for half their sales, with orders coming from New York, California, Texas and Washington, Sajady said.
"A lot of these digital outlets are bringing our brand to new audiences and new people and they're ordering it," she said.
The company's bottle redesign, which incorporated more storytelling of the brand itself and its ingredients, was inspired by plans to expand into more regional retailers, Sajady said.
"At the farmers market you're in front of the customer and you tell them all these things, but at the store you can't," she said. "We wanted to have our bottle to stand on its own."
The company last year found a manufacturing partner in south Minneapolis to boost volume production, Sajady said.
