SME Business News

Small business owners Maria Hellyer, 51, and Patricia Forbes, 54, of Sussex based The British Curry Company have secured a £500,000  deal to supply the Waitrose supermarket chain with their range of curry sauces.

The partners started the business five years ago, when Maria was made redundant from her sales job in the food industry. Inspired by recipes discovered in an old family exercise book by Pakistani born Patricia, the two women started selling the sauces at school fetes.

Patricia, a qualified chef, said: “I originally found the recipes in a little exercise book that belonged to my granny. “She had written down the recipes that her own mother had cooked.
“The book turned up in her belongings and I brought it to England with me when I moved here in the Seventies.
“Anglo-Indians were creating fusion’ food long before the Californians.

Through the Government consultancy Food From Britain, which helps companies export their goods,  the business found some success in America and Dubai. The couple then approached Waitrose and during their meeting Patricia cooked a curry for  buyer Damien Keep, who jumped at the chance to stock the sauces.

Mr Keep said: “The British Curry Company is exactly the kind of small company we like working with at Waitrose, as we are both committed to growing the brand together.”