Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Rachid Saad, Owner of Moroccan Saffron, LLC, located in Washington, DC, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Moroccan Saffron, LLC is a Washington, DC-based company that offers the freshest, most aromatic, top-quality gourmet products. We started with a simple idea: provide customers with the opportunity to experience pure Moroccan Saffron. Now we have grown to offer a carefully catered selection of gourmet food products pleasing to any palate and found nowhere else.
We are socially conscious, promote fair trade and sustainable farming practices that support communities, and our ingredients are organically-sourced as much as possible. We sell pure Moroccan Saffron from the Atlas Mountains that is superior in quality. Our Organic Moroccan Culinary Argan Oil is nutty, delicious, and packed with vitamin E and healthy fats. Our handcrafted artisan teas are from the finest ingredients found around the world. Our honey is locally produced in the Virginia Shenandoah Valley and is naturally, deliciously, silky sweet. Our exclusive Finishing Salt and Spice Collections will offer blends that inspire your culinary imagination and are made with whole organic spices and natural salt. We infuse, mix, produce, bottle, blend, package, and ship from our kitchen. Every batch is handmade with lots of love.
Tell us about yourself
I am a major foodie – I love to cook, I love to eat, and I’ve always been surrounded by spices and kitchen gadgets. The idea for Moroccan Saffron came to me when I was HUNGRY! One day back in 2014, I wanted to cook a dish with saffron. It was a Moroccan dish my mother always made – a chicken tagine. My mother’s recipe required a secret ingredient – saffron! I did not have it in the house, so I embarked on a mission to get some. I went to a couple of stores looking for good Saffron, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything. I last arrived at Giant (a grocery store in northern Virginia), and they sold McCormick’s Spanish Saffron for $20. Long story short - I was very disappointed with the quality of this Saffron. The Saffron had no smell and no taste. So from that day, I wanted to introduce amazing Moroccan Saffron to foodies just like me. I started looking into how to open a company and establish it – I worked with a lawyer. I got the paperwork, licenses, and taxes in order. I also trademarked my logo. Then I started looking into how to bring Moroccan Saffron to the US.
After successfully selling Moroccan Saffron direct to consumers, I knew I needed more gourmet products to help my company expand. So I began to think, what product does not exist on grocery store shelves that people would want, need, and would help them to make cooking easy??? This led me to develop additional product lines.
Moroccan Saffron, LLC is all about providing access to high-quality gourmet food products at reasonable prices. We strive to create unique products that cannot be found on grocery store shelves.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
• Keeping the business afloat during COVID and not increasing my prices.
• Getting the business debt-free.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
A lot of time and sacrifice goes into getting your business off the ground, and you must invest even more time to keep it going.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Work hard, work smart, and don’t give up. If you don’t have any capital but have an idea, use some money from your full-time job to invest in your idea and use your weekends/time off to start working on your business idea.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
We make everything available in small batches to provide the freshest and most delicious products. We love making cooking easy and introducing our customers to new products they may have never tried before.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.moroccan-saffron.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moroccansaffron
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moroccansaffron/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachid-saad-b24011112/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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