Canadian Organic Spice and Herb hit it big at this year’s provincial Achieving Business Excellence (ABEX) Awards. The Watson based company demonstrated the potential of rural business when it picked up top honours in the Export Award field. 

“We were excited to be nominated by Saskatchewan Trade and Export for the Export Award,” explains CEO Colleen Haussecker, “And we ended up winning it, so that was exciting for our team.”

The company exports a diverse range of spices, organic grain products produced in Saskatchewan, and packaged soup and meal products around the world. The company currently ships to Australia, Vietnam, and Japan, along with other foreign customers. The company has widespread Canadian distribution under its Splendor Garden brand. The business started about nine years ago, and through targeted marketing and international export agencies, the company has grown to a significant player in the province’s value added ag landscape.

“We have a dynamic sales team,” Haussecker responded when asked about the group’s success. “We also utilize a lot of Saskatchewan Trade and Export Programs which help Saskatchewan based companies export across Canada and around the world.”

The other appeal is their wide range of organic spices, but also their unique products.

“We provide bulk spices to restaurants and the food service industry. We are one of the first companies to come out with a line of oats that are both organic and gluten free. We also recently launched a new plant based fish coating mix, made with all Saskatchewan ingredients, that’s high protein and high fibre.”

Haussecker says the newest product is the line of plant based soup mixes. Their expanding product lines have garnered attention, and Haussecker feels that rural Saskatchewan is in a strong position to host businesses like hers.

“Saskatchewan is quite well known for its value added products, and we’re quite proud of that. It shows that you can do business from anywhere; you don’t need to be in a larger centre.”

The award ceremony took place in Regina on the same weekend in November as the Alberta clipper system that locked down much of southern Saskatchewan. As a result, Haussecker and her team were unable to attend. Instead, they gathered at her house and watched the livestream of their award being accepted by Sask Trade and Export representatives. 

“The competition was pretty fierce in our category, so we weren’t really expecting it to be honest, but we were really quite excited.”

The diverse product lines, the marketing know-how, and the tenacity of the group has paved the way for one of the most successful growth and distribution stories in east-central Saskatchewan.