Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to ESSILFUA BARTELS. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

ESSILFUA, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Shipping companies that damage product that is partially covered and not fully covered. Fulfillment companies destroying your orders and customers complaining of delays of their orders
Factories that are either too far from your suppliers and/warehouse, factories that have stringent payment terms and or lose items and aren’t accountable.

I’ve had to add insurance to every single shipment now (which costs us so much money) because the standard insurance which is standard is not even 10% of the value of the products
I’ve had to move from 5 different centers to find the best one, but now I have found it
I’ve had to move to a new factory. It is closer to my warehouse and suppliers; it’s not the most efficient but I had to pick the best out of the lot.

ESSILFUA, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up, I didn’t know the experiments I was concocting in my mother’s kitchen would amount to what EssieSpice is today. After visiting over 37 countries, I decided to introduce the world to the flavors I grew up with in Ghana, bottled with all the flavors & experiences from my travels. That was the creation of EssieSpice; bottled-up joy in a jar! Essiespice is a vegan sauce & spice company that is introducing indigenous spices from Ghana, West-Africa to the world. Our mission & goal is to educate the consumer on not just how flavorful our food & dishes are but to highlight the health benefits & the sustainability of our grains, oils & seeds. There is a gap in the culinary market that desperately needed to be filled by African food. When I started EssieSpice in 2013, we had South American food, Asian Food, Italian Food etc on the market with little to nothing known about African food. The only places one could find African food were in African stores or if your family was coming directly from the continent.
Growing up eating African food, I knew the benefits of our ingredients, the tastes & how these spices, oils & butters had been handed down from generations & I knew the world needed to know about them. When I started EssieSpice there were no comparable brands & therefore it was an uphill challenge trying to first educate the consumer before even trying to make a sale.
EssieSpice hopes to continue to be the pioneer in making African food, flavors & spices famous. We plan to do this by introducing to every household our sauces, spice blends & condiments which make food not only flavorful but convenient. We hope that when consumers; the everyday home cook, are looking for great flavor & convenience, they will reach for EssieSpice.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When I started my brand on social media, it wasn’t as saturated and there was no algorithm. if people wanted to see your content and followed you, they would see your page regularly. Things have changed now and made it very difficult for people to find you.

The way I built the page ultimately is to be transparent, authentic and to show quality that wasn’t expected even at that time about 10 years ago. I invested heavily in my videos, website, labels on the jars, photography as well. Everyone who saw my work could tell I had paid quite a bit for them and this is how news agencies, brands and even stores reached out to me without ever having a PR firm represent me. My work spoke for itself. I always advise emerging brands to invest heavily in the quality of their products and also the look. This way, they wouldn’t have to pay PR companies so much money to get them featured which is always a gamble.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Surviving 2022-2023.

I had to move from 3 different fulfillment centers; each move cost so much money, time and lost confidence with customers. I also lost so much money with shippers to the tune of $20,000 in damaged goods.
I then also had to move from 2 factories. One was negligent with our labels and ingredients. On two separate occasions, they lost my labels and ingredients and refused to reimburse me and literally wanted to sweep the issue under the carpet.
I’m still here though. Managing the risks as best as I can and having to now think so many steps ahead of these 3rd parties so CI can protect my company and bottom line.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.EssieSpice.com
• Instagram: @essiespice
• Facebook: @essiespice
• Linkedin: Essilfua Bartels also EssieSpice
• Twitter: @essiespice
• Youtube: @essiespice

Image Credits
Julia Stotz