____________________________________________________________________________________________ HOS
Global Foods
HOS Global Foods( HOS), formerly known as House of Spices, has evolved from a New York City storefront into the largest South Asian food importer and distributor in North America. With ten distribution centers, more than 300 employees, over 1100 SKUs, and a range of in-house brands, HOS is on a mission to become a $ 500-million company. Following its recent rebrand, we sit down with CEO Neil Soni, and COO Amrapali Soni Ryan, who are also brother and sister, to learn more about what factors are fueling such impressive growth.
The story starts, as so many great food stories do, with a homesick family.“ Our founder, G. L. Soni, originally came to New York for a civil engineering career, but his wife, Shobhna Soni, was a new bride in a new country, and there was simply nowhere to buy the dals, spices, and staples she needed to cook the food they had grown up on,” Amrapali begins.“ That gap, and her hunger for the taste of home, became the founding inspiration for the business. In 1972, G. L. Soni opened one of New York City’ s first stores devoted to Indian food products in Jackson Heights, alongside his wife and brother – and House of Spices was born.
“ Out of that storefront grew our flagship brand, Laxmi, built on three promises that still guide us today: purity, quality, and value. Laxmi went on to become the most loved South Asian food brand in America, and 55 years later, the family spirit remains but the business around it looks very different. We have grown into a multi-channel food business, serving more than 3000 customers across mainstream grocery, ethnic and specialty stores, foodservice, clubs and e-commerce. Today, HOS is best understood as a bridge between global growers and the North American consumer, and our vision remains to bring our culture to life through the celebration of authentic food, flavor and family.”
▲ Executive team
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