2022: Year in Review
2022 has been a busy year full of new product launches, tasty recipes, exciting collaborations, and so much more. While things continue to get increasingly challenging for the women of Afghanistan, we strive every day to build demand for Afghan agricultural products to create jobs and provide reliable wages for women and farmers living in this devastated region.
Thank you for your continued support of our mission and your interest in our beautiful, hand-harvested spices. We are so proud of all we have accomplished with your support this year and we can not wait to see what 2023 has in store for us at Rumi Spice.
How It Started
At the end of 2021 we had just launched 4 new spice blends – Za’atar, Ras el Hanout, Garam Masala, and Harissa. It’s hard to believe our product line ever existed without these best-selling blends.
We have loved getting more opportunities to experiment with these newer blends in our home kitchens, and they've led to some of our favorite recipes of the year, including:
- Best Ever Hummus (with Wild Black Cumin and Za'atar)
- Quick Za'atar Tzatziki
- Harissa Lentil & Butternut Squash Chili
- Grilled Harissa Cauliflower Steaks
- Harissa Shakshuka
How It’s Going
New Packaging Design
In early 2022 we underwent an exciting packaging rebrand to better link our brand’s appearance to our roots in Afghanistan. With this updated design we wanted to flaunt the vibrant colors of this dynamic region while showcasing a beautiful hand-drawn pattern from an Afghan design student, Zohra Jalal. We hope you’re loving the new Rumi look.
Learn more about the story behind our new design, here.
As the year progressed we are most proud of all the extensions to our product line, helping to further spread awareness around the rich flavors and unique spices that come from this region.
Seasoned Salts
First came our line of Middle Eastern Seasoned Salts, available in 4 bold flavors – Wild Black Cumin, Fennel, Lemon Dill Seed, and Saffron – all made with our premium, hand-harvested whole seed spices. They’re great to cook with, use in a marinade, or as a finishing salt, sprinkled on top of your favorite dishes. If you haven’t yet, make sure to give our seasoned salts a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Flatpacks
This year we also made all of our best-selling spices and blends available in flatpacks - a more convenient, environmentally-friendly way to enjoy your favorite spices! Now you can take your spices anywhere, store them with ease, or use these flatpacks to refill your old spice jars.
Check out flatpack offerings, here.
Meal Starter Spice Packets
Debatably our most exciting new product launch of 2022 was our line of Middle Eastern Meal Starter packets. We absolutely loved collaborating with some of our favorite chefs from this region on the uniquely bold flavors behind each of these meals. And, we have loved bringing you a new way to spice up mealtime. We hope you have enjoyed easily creating your own Middle Eastern dishes with a simple mix, marinate, cook, and serve.
In the end, what brings us most joy (of course besides continuing to build demand and awareness around the rich spices that come out of Afghanistan), is creating delicious dishes using our spices and watching you recreate them in your home kitchens.
From extravagant feasts to simple sides, we love sharing our favorite recipes with you. Read on for a list of our top 10 recipes of the year:
Top 10 Recipes of 2022
- Saffron Rice
- Saffron Rosewater Ice Cream
- Candied Fennel Seeds
- Saffron Simple Syrup
- Ras el Hanout Pork & Poblano Chili – our 2022 chili cook-off winning dish!
- Harissa Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
- Oven-baked Potato Wedges
- Tandoori Shrimp
- Saffron Greek Yogurt Dip
- Creamy Butter Chicken
Thank you again for your continued support. We look forward to sharing many more delicious together meals next year!