HOLY LAMA

GOURI KUBAIR

TASTE for SUCCESS

Holy Lama have evolved from creating essential oils to award-winning Spice Drops for food. We head to Hatfi eld to discover a fl avour of the business

By MARK KEBBLE

80% OF THE HOLY LAMA WORKFORCE ARE FEMALE

It’s been a pretty hectic time for Gouri Kubair, owner of Holy Lama Naturals. The Hatfi eld local is not only overseeing an ever-evolving business, which creates natural skincare products and a unique range of highly concentrated extracts of herbs, spices, fl owers and fruits used in cooking, but has had a recent date at the House of Lords to celebrate the business being just one of 100 companies selected by the Small Business

Saturday UK campaign to form part of

SmallBiz100. It’s just yet another big tick for this inspiring Hertfordshire business.

“To have been selected to be listed alongside other amazing British businesses makes me feel extremely proud and I am excited to be able to share our awardwinning Body Care and Spice Drops with a wider audience,” smiles Gouri. “The advice and expertise that the team behind

Small Business Saturday has to o er are incredible and the networking opportunities where we can meet the other SmallBiz 100 companies both from this year and past years’ alumni have been a great way to learn from others’ experiences.”

Holy Lama Naturals certainly has quite a history, as Gouri explains. “The Holy Lama Naturals story began in the 1940s and spans three generations of my family. In 1948 my grandfather migrated from near Goa to Kerala, South India, to become a pioneer in the essential oils industry. He was the fi rst person to cultivate vetivert (a tall grass) to extract the oils on a commercial basis and it’s from here that the beginnings of my family business, distilling and using essential oils in perfumery, can be traced.

“Following in his father’s footsteps, my father, Vijay, became involved in the family business at a very young age,” Gouri continues. “His fascination with the world of essential oils and perfumery took him to Bhutan on a government-backed project helping locals cultivate and extract

“We are proud to have been awarded Great Taste Awards for 18 of our Spice Drops”

lemongrass oil. During the 1980s, he lived in the Himalayas for eight years and, whilst in Bhutan, made a 12-day walking pilgrimage to Aja Ney where the presiding Lama presented him with a ‘Thangkha of Lama Guru’, which symbolises good luck in life. This is the inspiration behind the Holy Lama Naturals brand name.”

How has the business evolved over the years? “The original family business was in essential oils and perfumery and my parents expanded it in the late 1990s,” Gouri explains. “The extracting and distillation knowledge is used in the production of Spice Drops and the essential oils are the key active ingredients in our skincare range. With lots of hard work and some luck, the business went from strength to strength and in 2014 we launched our Spice Drops. These are highly concentrated natural extracts of herbs and spices for fl avouring food and drink.”

These little drops of goodness have also been recognised by the Great Taste Awards, no less. “The Great Taste Awards are probably one of the most recognised food awards amongst the general public,” Gouri says proudly. “They are trusted and respected, so we are very proud to have been awarded stars for 18 of our Spice Drops – it’s over half of them – and I do believe that it helps infl uence purchases if people haven’t tried Spice Drops before.”

For those who do try the drops for the fi rst time, they will be using an ingredient that is sure to liven up all manner of food. “Spice Drops are designed to help cooks be creative with fl avour in the kitchen,” Gouri says. “They can experiment with instant authentic taste and aroma without the hassle of peeling, chopping, grating or grinding the raw ingredient. We think they really are little drops of magic and can help any cook experiment with spices.

“Growing up in India I learned to cook with spices from an early age,” she continues. “They can transform a dish, adding interest and excitement to the blandest of meals. Many have traditional uses and benefi ts

“I’m determined to get everyone cooking with spices confi dently”

that add colourful stories and bring them even more to life. I can understand that for those who have not grown up using certain spices it might be a little frightening to start cooking with them. I believe that Spice Drops are a simple and convenient way for even the most amateur chef to introduce spices to their cooking and just have fun experimenting with them. To make it even easier we have a recipe on every box to show how that Spice Drops variant can be used and exactly how many drops need to be added in comparison to the powdered spices. I’m determined to get everyone cooking with spices confi dently!”

Gouri is also determined to follow a sustainable approach. “All our products, irrespective of the ranges, are based on ancient Ayurvedic principles, ensuring immune support and balance of body, mind and spirit. This sense of wellbeing permeates the business, demonstrated in the way it is run and the products we make,” she says. “Only the fi nest quality ingredients are used to make Spice Drops and our body care products, sourced primarily from local farmers in Kerala or elsewhere in India and building on over seven decades of strongly established relationships with farmers. We’re proud that a genuine bond of trust exists between supplier and buyer, not least because we run the business on the ten principles of Fair Trade.

“In many developing communities (and let’s face it in Western society too), there is sometimes an inequality in wages for men and women, but this is not the case for Holy Lama Naturals where equal pay is ensured, irrespective of gender. Holy Lama Naturals is also a Kerala Government recognised women’s enterprise, where over 80% of the workforce are women, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Work at the factory provides these women with much-needed selfconfi dence and fi nancial independence.”

It may be hard to follow up such an astounding year, but Gouri isn’t resting on her laurels. “We aim to build on the success of this year and what we have learnt from our membership of Small Business Saturday. We’re also always keeping an eye on trends and what the latest fl avours and skincare routines are; the beauty of being a small family business is that we can be agile when we want to add to the range and can act quickly.” Drop in the ocean? This is one local business really making waves.

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