Our Story
Where It All Started...
Konay Spice Shop is a small-batch spice company curating bold, versatile, and salt-conscious seasoning products for people who care about what they eat, and how it makes them feel.
The brand combines practical culinary wellness knowledge, transparent sourcing, cultural authenticity, and a deep commitment to public health.
Founded in 2019 by Awa Malicka Barro, Konay began as a personal response to her mother’s stroke back home in Côte d’Ivoire. From thousands of miles away, Malicka researched and tested foods and spices with her friends to identify ingredients known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardiovascular-supporting properties. That research, layered with the food traditions her mother taught her, became a brand rooted in culture, care, community, and love.
What We Make
Our signature shelf-stable blends (Golden Girl, Herb’Ert, Cabin Feverrr, and Pink Lady) are produced in a licensed commercial kitchen in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and sold through farmers markets, and Shopify, with future growth focused on direct-to-consumer sales, local specialty retailers, wholesalers, and selective community partnerships.
Behind The Brand
Malicka Barro is a private chef, urban gardener, supply chain professional, food systems thinker, and the heart behind every jar at Konay. She holds a B.S. in Supply Chain and Logistics from Rowan University and a Master's in Sustainable Food Systems from the Culinary Institute of America, which shape every decision Konay Spice Shop makes from how ingredients are sourced to how products reach your door.
With over 15 years in the kitchen and a professional background in supply chain and logistics, Malicka brings a rare combination of culinary instinct and operational expertise to everything Konay does. From her college dorm, she started crafting health-first, multipurpose spice blends packed with ingredients known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, glucose and cholesterol lowering properties. Feeding others has always been Malicka’s love language, which she learned from her mother. Her peers and professors recognized her passion and her entrepreneurial spirit, and encouraged her to share that love with the world. This love has since then grown into a product line that has an established social media presence, and loyal early customer base.
What We Are Building...
With a vision to lead a sustainable spice trade that ensures every kitchen embraces authentic flavors and wellness, all while prioritizing ethical sourcing and environmental stewardship; Konay has always been bigger than just a spice boutique.
In partnership with the Opportunity League, we installed a hydroponic growing system in Burlington City, New Jersey (a recognized food desert) in order to bring fresh produce to a community that deserves access to real nutrition. Our blends are woven into the restaurant menu at Villages Community Marketplace where good food, and health-forward flavors will now be part of daily community life.
Our long term goal is to become a fully regenerative spice farm that is vertically integrated from soil to shelf, in order to ethically source the very ingredients we blend, and position Konay Spice Shop as a leader in the global sustainable spice market.
Whether you found us at a farmer's market, through a friend, or somewhere on the internet at midnight looking for something better...
Welcome. You are exactly who we made this for.
"For people who care about what they eat and how it makes them feel".
KONAY SPICE SHOP
P.O. BOX 121 SPRINGFIELD, PA 19064
support@konayspiceshop.com