Meet the Aussie 'spice girl' who quit her job and moved back in with her parents at 24 - before building a seasoning empire and signing a $2MILLION supermarket deal
- A marketing assistant has built a multi-million dollar seasoning empire
- Jordyn Evans, from Melbourne, started Mingle from her parent's kitchen at 24
- She quit her job, sold her car and put all of her life savings into the brand
- Fast forward, the 29-year-old has landed a $2million deal with Woolworths
- But journey to success was not easy after she didn't get a salary for three years
A marketing assistant who calls herself the 'spice girl' has built a multi-million dollar seasoning empire after she moved back in with her parents to pursue her dream business.
Jordyn Evans, from Melbourne, started Mingle Seasoning from her family's kitchen at 24 after she quit her job, sold her car and put all of her life savings into the brand.
Fast forward, the 29-year-old has landed a $2million deal with Woolworths, with her range now available in nearly 2,000 supermarket stores across Australia after the business saw a huge spike in sales, growing by 200 per cent in 2020.
'People see this flashy deal but don't realise all of that it's being invested back into Mingle. I'm not pocketing it, I'm still living at home with my parents and it's a marathon,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'Business is blood, sweat and tears, it's sacrifice and you have got to be willing to sacrifice things day in and day out to reap the rewards.'
Jordyn Evans (pictured) from Melbourne, has built a multi-million dollar seasoning empire after she moved back in with her parents to pursue her dream business
For the first three years of her business, Jordyn delivered all of her stock to stores in a van
Her journey to success was far from easy after she didn't pay herself a salary during the first three excruciating years of starting her business.
'It certainly got tough at the end of those three years as money got tighter and my stress levels grew,' she said.
'I put everything into this little spice business while my friends were buying houses.'
As she worked endlessly to lift the business off the ground after investing $40,000 out of her own pocket, Jordyn started as a one-man band.
'I was the delivery driver to stores, the promotional girl in-store giving samples away and everything in between... I was struggling to switch off and have a life outside of Mingle,' she said.
'I drive the van full time so I often smell like paprika or garlic as the spice permeates through my clothes - not the greatest vibe.'
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The 29-year-old has landed a $2million deal with Woolworths, with her range now available in nearly 2,000 supermarket stores across Australia after the business saw a huge spike in sales, growing by 200 per cent in 2020
As she worked endlessly to lift the business off the ground after investing $40,000 out of her own pocket, Jordyn started as a one-man band. She used to deliver her own stock to the stores from her van (pictured in 2018)
The idea to start her own range of seasoning started five years ago when she noticed the high levels of salt and sugar, preservatives, and hidden artificial ingredients labelled on the supermarket products while she was in the middle of cooking.
'I discovered the Moroccan seasoning I was using contained a whole range of questionable nasty ingredients so I chucked it in the bin,' she said.
'I went to the supermarket to find a better seasoning alternative, but I couldn't. I stood in the herbs and spice aisle and noticed all the brands looked the same and to me were bland and with no personality.
'This was my light bulb moment where I had the vision to create a new healthy flavour brand that was fun, had personality and got people excited to cook again.'
She moved back in with her parents so she could work on her brand in their kitchen. Eventually, she moved into a commercial kitchen - and as the business grew, they found a Melbourne manufacturer who now does all the spice blending.
Jordyn said she wanted to create a 'healthy, all-natural' range of seasoning without compromising on flavour.
Jordyn said she wanted to create a 'healthy, all-natural' range of seasoning without compromising on flavour
Fast forward, the 29-year-old has landed a $2million deal with Woolworths, with her range now available in nearly 2,000 supermarket stores across Australia
Her years of hard work paid off in July 2020 when she signed a $1million deal to have her signature spices officially stocked at Coles (pictured at Coles with her range of products)
'The big food brands were trying to help customers save time with cooking but they were missing something incredibly important, the consideration of customer's health, without a flavour compromise,' she said.
'It's possible to create delicious products at a reasonable price that puts the customer's health first. "Healthy" doesn't have to be expensive. Healthy doesn't have to be bland. Healthy doesn't have to be a sacrifice.'
She started by making some all-purpose seasonings - including garlic & herb and Moroccan - before adding a few of her own bespoke options - including spicy Mexican and BBQ lovers.
Mingle Seasoning now boasts a host of different products - whether you're after 'Curry in a Hurry' seasoning, 'Butter Chicken' or 'Spag Bol'.
She started with an online store before her products were stocked in 400 health food stores in 2018.
Her years of hard work paid off in July 2020 when she signed a $1million deal to have her signature spices officially stocked at Coles.
She started by making some all-purpose seasonings - including garlic & herb and Moroccan - before adding a few of her own bespoke options - including spicy Mexican and BBQ lovers
She recently launched a new range of 'game-changing' sauces - including low-sugar tomato, barbecue and sweet chilli - after she discovered a typical bottle of tomato sauce contained more sugar than a can of Coke
Earlier this month, Jordyn officially launched her range into Woolworths after she scored a $2million deal with the supermarket chain
She recently launched a new range of 'game-changing' sauces - including low-sugar tomato, barbecue and sweet chilli - after she discovered a typical bottle of tomato sauce contained more sugar than a can of Coke.
'Sugar is the main issue in your daily table condiments, especially the hero of the table, tomato sauce. Who knew the typical sauce has 25g of sugar per 100g - a bottle of coke has 11g of sugar - which baffled me,' she said.
'It took a year for us to come up with a sauce that tasted as good as the ones we grew up eating, without compromising on ingredients.'
Earlier this month, Jordyn officially launched her range into Woolworths after she scored a $2million deal with the supermarket chain.
'It feels pretty surreal. This was a long time in the making,' she said.
'We are trying our best to shake things up and play in a space with the big guys.'
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