Burlap & Barrel sources their single origin spices directly from farmer cooperatives and small farms, bypassing brokers and middlemen who drive prices up and quality down. Founders Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar visit farms personally and spend time with farmers, learning firsthand about the economic, social, and cultural factors behind their farming methods. Burlap & Barrel then supports these farmers by providing purchase commitments to give greater financial security, sharing knowledge from across their global farmer network, and expanding on-site value-added activities such as sorting, grinding, and packaging to increase farmer revenue. Burlap & Barrel works with their partner farmers to identify unique varietals of spices that are often overlooked by the commodity spice industry – as well as valuable byproducts – to maximize the farms' earnings. Plus, in selling these spices, Burlap and Barrel highlights the areas they come from, bringing attention to sustainability and ecological needs and practices in other parts of the world.

Co-founder Ethan Frisch joined us on the Know Your Food Podcast to talk more about their model and mission — watch here.