A familiar pepper brand in Thai kitchens, Phrik Thai Tra Meu Thi Nueng or Hand Brand No.1 has been produced by Nguan Soon since 1954. Recently, Hand Brand No.1 has been repackaged stylishly and displayed along with more than 200 herbs and spices at a shockingly pink showroom called Spice Story (G/F Siam Paragon, 991 Rama 1 Rd., 02-610-7505-6. Open daily 10am-10pm).

Appearing in a dazzling chic Chinese design, Spice Story easily attracts passing shoppers. This intriguing spice store is the brainchild of the Limprana family who run leading spice distributor, Nguan Soon. Led by Wisit Limprana, Nguan Soon has produced and exported herbs and spices from chili powder and Thai curry paste to oregano, serving more than 20 countries.

Exported products are now displayed on the shelves of Spice Story including instant khanom jiin (Chinese rice noodle, B23), laap seasoning (B25), shitake mushroom (B140) and roast barbecue pork seasoning (B25). Popular items are pepper (B53), lime leaves (B100) and dried lemongrass (B30). “Spice Story is located opposite the supermarket, and we have some products that the supermarket doesn’t have, such as Yunan ham and scented chili for casseroled prawns with glass noodles,” Wisit said.

Though the number of shoppers visiting Spice Story is high, Wisit admitted that Thai people aren’t really familiar with these spice and herbs. “A lot of Thais come in and admire our beautiful packages, then leave because they don’t know how to use our products. Our regular customers are mostly foreigners.”

To help people understand more about the products, a corner of Spice Story serves food that was prepared with their spices, such as duck noodle soup (B190), bah kute (B190), fusion spring rolls (spring rolls stuffed with smoked bacon, spinach and cheese, B70) and cooling herb tea (B40). “From the dishes we prepare, customers can see how spices in the shop are used.” In the future, the shop plans on holding demonstrations on how to cook dishes using their spices.

Another product that can draw customers into the store is their creatively spiced ice cream, which comes in seven flavors including pepper ice cream, chili ice cream and morning glory sorbet (B50/scoop). Wisit explained his strategy. “This area has a lot of teenagers passing by. We tried to figure out which products we could sell to this group and my sister created spice ice cream.” This strategy works well. The ice cream case is always busy though some kids have said the chili ice cream is too spicy.

The next step of Spice Story is to expand its store as a franchise or let Nguan Soon be a co-partner in a new shop. “We won’t sell our products separately. If someone likes our products or our shop, he has to buy the whole shop and set it up just like this Spice Story.”

The future of this spice shop seems bright. “We’ve been contacted by German and Filipino people who want to set up a Spice Story franchise. We’re still discussing the details.”