Social Impact

A Letter from the Co-Founders

As we reflect on 2024, we’re reminded of why we founded Burlap & Barrel 8 years ago: to build a fairer, more flavorful spice trade. This year reaffirmed our belief that what we're building actually works, and that the world needs it more than ever.

2024 was a record-breaking year that showed the power of our direct trade model. For the first time in the history of our business, we paid over $1 million directly to farmers in a single year.

A few other notable milestones:

• Our sourcing grew by 43% in 2024, meaning we sent 43% more money to our partner farmer network
  
• We sourced spices from partner farmers in 22 countries, including our first shipment from Costa Rica and kicking off our heirloom Mexican chili project
• We placed the biggest orders in our company's history with our partner farmers, including foragers in Afghanistan, sugarcane growers in Barbados, and mustard farmers in Canada.
• We started a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, sourcing three incredible woodland honeys. This supply chain directly protects the fragile chimpanzee habitats, and we also donate 5% of proceeds back to the Jane Goodall Institute.

As we into 2025, this year brings unprecedented shifts in global trade, with rising tariffs and economic uncertainty creating new hurdles. At Burlap & Barrel, we made a clear decision: we will never pass these costs onto our customers or our partner farmers. It’s a promise we proudly stand by today. Our partner farmers deserve fair and stable incomes, and our customers deserve accessible, high-quality spices.

We thank you for being part of our journey and for choosing to support a better, more equitable spice trade. Together, we’ll continue to ensure Burlap & Barrel remains a place where ethics and flavor come together, no matter what challenges we face. 

Ori and Ethan
Burlap & Barrel Co-founders & Co-CEOS

Quant Nam, Vietnam: Ori and Ethan stand in a cinnamon forest, where the trees that produce our best-selling Royal Cinnamon are harvested.

2024 by the Numbers

In 2024, we introduced new spices and blends, each built on its own supply chain.

We started off the year by introducing California-grown Cayenne and ground Grenada Gold Nutmeg (our first ground nutmeg!). We expanded our vanilla line-up with Tononaca Vanilla from Mexico and Jaggery from our partner turmeric farmer in India, and introduced many more spices throughout the year.

By the end of the year, we'd shattered our sourcing records. Here are the numbers for our 8th year:

Three Stories from the Field

Honey: Tanzanian Honey & Jane Goodall’s Conservation Mission

In the deep, green, lush Miombo woodlands of Tanzania, beekeepers like Abdallah and Rehema are not just harvesting honey, they’re safeguarding entire forests. These beekeepers work with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), where sustainable beekeeping becomes a powerful tool for conservation.

Bees depend on healthy forests, so by protecting the trees, these communities simultaneously protect the habitats of endangered chimpanzees. Sustainable beekeeping is conservation in action, one jar of honey at a time.

The honey produced here is special, not only in its flavor and complexity, but it also carries a story of hope and care for nature. We donate 5% of honey sales directly to JGI’s conservation efforts.

Curry: Zanzibar Curry & the Community Spirit

In Zanzibar, we work with 1001 Organics, a local supplier we have partnered with for eight years. Eight years means we've watched this community grow and contributed to it. Farmers grow and mix every part of our Curry Origin Blend themselves. This creates jobs and helps their local economy thrive.

Launched as part of our Origin Blends line in December 2023, curry quickly became one of the company’s best-selling new spices. It was our best-performing new product launch of 2024. This line was specifically created to spotlight iconic spice blends grown entirely at their place of origin, emphasizing the importance of terroir, or the unique taste imparted by the local climate, cultivation, and surroundings. Through this initiative, partner farmers not only grow the spices but also contribute their traditional recipes and blending expertise. This involvement means farmers earn more by providing added value directly at the source.

Our curry stood out due to its ability to capture Zanzibar's rich and diverse culinary history in one jar. Known globally as the "Spice Island," Zanzibar has a food culture deeply influenced

Sugars: Jaggery & Regenerative Farming Practices in India

Jaggery, a traditional Indian sugar, offers another remarkable example of our commitment to small-scale, regenerative farming. This family farm is led by a soil scientist, Dr. Salunkhe, who has spent more than 30 years caring for the land. This jaggery benefits from intercropping, where multiple crops are grown together to enrich the soil and maintain ecological balance.

This remarkable farm has avoided harmful agricultural practices like burning plant waste by composting. Fully committed to organic principles, the farm does not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Instead, Dr. Salunkhe and his team nourish the soil using a traditional organic preparation and use neem oil for pests. These methods keep the soil microbiome healthy and produce a cleaner, higher-quality crop. Dr. Salunkhe is so committed to ensuring that the final product is pesticide-free that when the turmeric is ground, he ensures the final product is not mixed with or contaminated by other farmers’ plants that have been grown using pesticides and other methods that lower quality.

This farm first worked with us to supply our exceptional New Harvest Turmeric, and over time, we expanded to jaggery. Unlike typical white sugar, our jaggery has a distinctive, caramel-like flavor, and it melts onto anything it touches. It a rich, deep, and special addition to our lineup this year.

It's a result of terroir, tradition, and careful farming practices: critical components resulting in this perfect sweetener.

Impact at Home

Our impact extends beyond international borders by fostering meaningful collaborations and community initiatives across the United States. In 2024, we deepened our commitment to local partnerships, education, and philanthropy, reinforcing our work to create a more equitable and flavorful food system.

Strategic collaborations with renowned chefs like Marc Murphy and Martha Stewart have amplified our message, introducing ethically sourced spices to broader audiences. Beyond these high-profile partnerships, we have actively engaged with small-batch U.S. producers through Spice Club, a quarterly subscription box designed to celebrate and support local culinary innovation.

Collaborations with Culinary Innovators

In 2024, we expanded Spice Club with a number of impactful collaborations. Spice Club became a launchpad for small food artisans, bringing forward unique products and connecting the stories behind them to our global community of spice lovers. Among the standout collaborations was Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen, whose Mango Sambal, a tangy, spicy condiment born from a cherished family recipe, became an instant hit, selling out twice and prompting reorders.

The Story Behind the Sambal:

Auria’s journey began with a homesick phone call to her mother in Malaysia during a cold February in 2012. Craving the flavors of home, she recreated her mom’s pungent fermented-shrimp sambal, only for her American husband to devour the entire batch in days.

The Mango Sambal journey began in early March 2024. When we reached out to Auria about a collaboration, we had a bold proposal; could she create 5,000 units of a special, collaborative product by mid-April? Despite the ambitious scale of production for her small-batch kitchen, managed entirely by Auria, a handful of women working alongside her, and a single person handling order fulfillment—her husband encouraged her instantly, saying simply, "just do it."

Auria knew exactly which spice to spotlight, Alphonso Mango Amchur, a tart dried mango powder that reminded her of her childhood memories from her grandmother’s garden in Malaysia, dotted with fragrant mango trees.

Her grandmother would use mangoes from these trees to make a deliciously tangy and spicy condiment. With this family legacy and the vibrant, unique amchur as inspiration, Auria began experimenting.

Creating the perfect Mango Sambal wasn’t easy. Auria diligently made test batches, sending samples to the Burlap & Barrel team for feedback. After a few rapid rounds of back-and-forth, Auria got to production, measuring each ingredient by the gram, the final Mango Sambal emerged with fiery chilis, garlic, and a touch of sweetness, perfectly balanced, intensely flavorful, and deeply authentic.

For Auria’s small business, the collaboration with Burlap & Barrel was transformative. Without a marketing team, advertising budget, or social media managers, Auria gained access to Burlap & Barrel’s large, loyal, and adventurous community. Her unique product, born from cherished family memories and authentic flavors, reached thousands of enthusiastic customers who appreciate culinary innovation and global flavors. It was, as Auria described it, "an incredible gift."

Philanthropy and Social Impact

In 2024, we donated $50,000 worth of spices to various organizations. Some notable recipients include Food 4 Farmers, an NGO partnering with coffee-farming communities to promote food security and sustainable livelihoods. Our donations supported their mission to strengthen local food systems and promote sustainable farming practices. Emma’s Torch is a non-profit social enterprise providing culinary training to refugees, asylum seekers, and survivors of human trafficking. Our contributions aided their programs in New York City and Washington, D.C., empowering students to build meaningful careers in the culinary industry.

Additionally, our "Pay What You Can" program allowed customers facing financial hardship to access premium spices by naming their own price, ensuring quality food experiences remain inclusive. Testimonials from participants highlight the profound impact of this initiative, emphasizing gratitude for maintaining dignity and access during challenging times.

Collectively, these domestic collaborations, educational initiatives, and philanthropic efforts show our dedication to ethical values at home. The interconnected growth of small businesses, empowered communities, and satisfied customers is clear proof that ethics and commerce can flourish together, reinforcing our vision of a fairer, more flavorful world.

Carrying a Torch in a Weary World

The world is full of trade-offs, and nowhere will make you believe that more than the world of business. We’re witnessing a disappointing lack of leadership from the people commanding the most resources in America. It’s the reason people wonder if it is still possible to run a successful business with impact at its core… the examples are few and far between.

Burlap & Barrel is living proof that not only is it possible, but that it can be the reason for a business’s growth and success.

We do more than sell spices. We build deep connections with farmers. We help them do their best work and protect the land. We share honest stories about where food comes from, about the people, traditions, and agricultural practices that we have to thank for being able to feed ourselves.

There will be challenges ahead. Tariffs may rise. Markets may shift. We'll keep showing up. We will continue to pay farmers fairly and bring high-quality spices to our customers at a fair price, inspiring others along the way.

Fair, transparent, delicious. This is the spice trade reimagined.

Want to read our previous years' Impact Reports? 

• Read our 2023 Impact Report
• Read our 2022 Impact Report
• Read our 2021 Impact Report
• Read our 2020 Impact Report
• Read our 2019 Impact Report
• Read our 2018 Impact Report