A Maple Cross-based couple are hoping to take their business to the next level after being awarded with a UK Quality Food award in November, which will now allow them to see their brand shelved at Co Op stores across the country.
Mariae, who is from Malaysia, and her husband Gerard Hackett embarked on their journey to deliver authentic Malaysian food four years ago, naming their business Dapur Mariae.
After being awarded with a first Quality Food Award in 2018, they realised that this could be more than just a hobby and decided to leave their previous jobs, as a nurse and a chef respectively, to fully concentrate on developing the business and are now reaping the rewards for doing so.
The company won the Small Producer Award last month for their Homemade Malaysian Curry Paste, seeing off fierce competition such as Co Op and Asda, who had five of the six nominees, Mariae and Gerard’s being the other.
Speaking to RickyNews, Mariae said: “The award really was a great win. Our mission has always been to spread the joy of Malaysian cuisine which is relatively unknown, and we knew that we really had something special to work with, and this award has allowed us to prove that.
“We now just want to continue to grow as much as we can and get into more high street supermarkets. We want to be a household name in the future and to be recognised by industry experts is another step to possibly achieving that.
“We have been really well supported by the local community, in Maple Cross, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth and even as far as Northwood. Our loyal customer-base has been so supportive over the last four years.”
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