On March 9th, 2026, we took a step we never expected to take as a small business: we filed a lawsuit against the federal government.

Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar started Burlap & Barrel nearly 10 years ago, carrying spices home from trips to origin in their checked luggage. What began as a small experiment has grown into a social enterprise working with partner farmers in more than 20 countries around the world. Last year alone, Burlap & Barrel sent just under $2 million directly to spice farmers, and both the business and its impact continue to grow.

Our work depends on global agriculture. Spices like black pepper, cinnamon, and vanilla simply aren’t grown commercially in the United States. Even when similar crops can grow here, many spices come from specific regions with long histories, unique varietals, and specialized farming and processing methods that can’t easily be replicated elsewhere. Our Herbes de Provence come from Provence, and our sweet, savory Purple Stripe Garlic grows in the northern highlands of Vietnam.

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s sweeping tariffs under the IEEPA emergency powers law were unlawful. That ruling reinforced something we believed from the beginning: these tariffs overstep the government’s authority and impose real costs on small businesses like ours.

That’s why Burlap & Barrel partnered with the Liberty Justice Center to file a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging the administration’s Section 122 tariffs.

When these tariffs were first announced last April, we made two promises: we would not raise our prices, and we would not ask our partner farmers to absorb the costs. A year later, we’re proud to say we’ve kept those promises. This lawsuit is about protecting our ability to continue doing that.

No matter what happens next, our mission remains the same: pay farmers more, bring the best spices in the world to kitchens across the United States, and build a more equitable spice trade.

If this work matters to you, we’d be grateful if you helped share the story.

Read more about the lawsuit here:

https://libertyjusticecenter.org/cases/burlap-and-barrel-inc-v-trump/