Owners of Aberdeen’s popular Tex-Mex street food chain, FreshMex, have launched their own spice “rub” line.
Owners and brothers Robbie and Chris Moult have agreed a partnership with British Pepper & Spice (BPS) to produce two of their original recipe dry seasoning concoctions, dubbed Tex and Mex, for sale to restaurants and supermarket shoppers.
The siblings have invested a five-figure sum in getting the product to market and securing the deal with BPS.
The move will see the seasoning mixes available in a range of supermarkets across Scotland.
The rubs have been used throughout FreshMex’s menu since their first day of trading at farmers markets in the city back in 2015.
The brother said they believed the deal will allow them to enter the retail market which they feel needs “spiced up”.
Target the ‘at-home’ market
Robbie said: “Working with British Pepper will of course help improve efficiencies in our kitchens across the UK with the foodservice deal, but crucially it allows us to enter the retail space with the confidence of a highly reputable producer behind us.
“We’ve used our original recipe rubs throughout the menu ever since we launched.
“The new seasoning sachets will allow customers to recreate our award-winning menu at home.”
Robbie, 29, said the pair had always been tempted by the “at-home market” and packaged the two rubs in-house by hand to great success at the start of the pandemic as a trial run selling to local butchers and delicatessens.
Trial run success
“With the trial run a success and selling out, we began conversations with buyers from major convenience stores and supermarkets in Scotland to gauge what they thought,” he said.
“We quickly realised the need to work with a manufacturer who had the ability for scale and were really impressed when speaking with the team at BPS.
“We have been working with them for the past 18 months and we’re delighted that the quality of their ingredients and the processes they use has actually improved the end product.
“Having BPS onboard also means we can be competitive on price.
“We look forward to spicing up the supermarket shelves throughout 2022 and beyond.”
Exciting development
FreshMex, which currently has 65 employees, operated from The Adams and The Hawthorn pub before opening its restaurant on Schoolhill in Aberdeen in 2018.
It opened a new restaurant and takeaway in Edinburgh last Summer before signing a partnership with Deliveroo to open the first FreshMex Deliveroo Editions kitchen in Nottingham.
Deliveroo Editions, also known as “dark kitchens”, are hubs of small professional workspaces where the delivery firm hand-picks restaurants to open a kitchen in different cities, without the cost of paying for premises on the high street.
BPS national account manager Phil Harding said: “We are delighted to work with FreshMex as they look to enter the retail market and are very excited to see where this development takes them.
“With such impressive achievements and growth in what is still a very young business, we have no doubt that this next step will only further their success.
“With shared drive for innovation and passion for good food at our cores, our collaboration with FreshMex is a terrific partnership.”
FreshMex award-winning food
FreshMex’s burrito has also claimed the title of Scotland’s most ordered dish on Deliveroo for the past four years and picked up the “Pop-Up to Prime Time” award at Deliveroo’s first ever restaurant awards last year through customer votes.
The brothers say they are looking to continue to grow their restaurant locations and launch further retail products in the years ahead.