House of Spices (HOS) is a family business, with every member to thank for where it is today. It started in 1970 when Sobhana, G.L. Soni's wife, complained that she couldn't get all the ingredients she needed for delicious Indian cooking.

G.L. called up his younger brother Kumar and proposed opening up a grocery store. Kumar laughed and replied, "Are you crazy? You know there's only 10 Indians living in NYC!" In that moment, the Laxmi story began. Sobhana, G.L., and Kumar carefully nurtured that first store, paying constant attention to every aspect of its day-to-day activities and, most importantly, the quality of the ingredients they sourced.

In 1992, G.L. and Kumar realized the demand for Indian groceries was growing. They moved into what still remains HOS headquarters and began manufacturing Laxmi brand products. Sobhana and G.L. would stay up late at night perfecting recipes. They'd come into work the next day with new ideas to replicate the home-cooked taste. G.L. still says to this day, "Made pure, made fresh, made here!"

Soon after, G.L. and Kumar expanded their single-unit operation into a sophisticated warehouse distribution enterprise. Today, the next generation of the Laxmi family carries the torch, spreading Indian food culture from coast to coast with nine major distribution centers across the country.

G.L., Neil, Chico, and Amrapali work as team dealing with every problem that a growing business faces. What they enjoy most is developing new products and working closely with their chefs. They taste and test new products again and again until they are satisfied. Then, they pass them on to the whole HOS team for a second opinion. But Sobhana gets the final say-mom always knows best.

G.L. can be hard to track down in the NY factory. Sometimes he's in the back, inspecting the machines or working hard in the kitchens doing what he loves best: carefully preparing the food with our talented team members. But you can also find him diligently reading every customer feedback form sent in for review.

We would like to give a special thanks to the whole HOS team and you, our customers. We appreciate your continued patronage and feedback-without you, there would be no House of Spices.