There’s a local Colombian restaurant that I often visit in Astoria called Sandro’s Latin Foods. I order the same meal there every time – La Bandeja Paisa, which includes two pieces of carne asada, a huge chicharron, rice, pinto beans, two fried eggs, avocado and a sweet plantain. (Yes, lots of cholesterol, but delicious). My favorite part of the meal is the salsa verde that they use. I pour it over everything.

Occasionally, I ask them to prepare a container of the sauce for me to take home. I wished they bottled it, as I have yet to find one to match it at any grocery store. 

Anisha Patel, Co-Founder of Twist Foods, owns an Indian restaurant in Las Vegas, and was in a similar situation, with customers like me continually asking her to package up their curry simmer spices to take home. But in her case, she jumped at the opportunity to develop a CPG product, and in just two years, it has turned into a rapidly growing brand, spreading from local farmers markets to distribution deals with Hy-Vee & KeHe Distributors (from RangeMe Immediate Opportunities), and with H-E-B (from an ECRM Food & Beverage Session). 

However, this journey from restaurants and farmers markets to mass retail is not an easy one. Just ask Obi Linton of Nicobi Foods or Nat Harrington of Nat’s Nuts. When you scale up production to mass retail levels, it can be difficult to maintain the quality of the original recipe. But Patel managed to do it, and during our recent interview at ECRM’s Center Store Grocery Sessions, she shared her journey. You can watch the full interview in the video below.

The Origin Story: From Restaurant Tables to Grocery Shelves

The genesis of Twist Foods is rooted deeply in the hospitality industry. For over 14 years, Anisha Patel and her husband Ritesh have owned and operated family restaurants in Las Vegas. Their commitment to authentic, high-quality Indian cuisine earned them a fiercely loyal customer base. Over time, those customers began asking a recurring question that would ultimately change the trajectory of the Patels' careers.

"My husband and I would get requests from our customers,” says Patel. ‘’They’d ask us, 'Why can't we find something similar in a jar when we go out?' So we didn't think much about it. We used to actually make tubs of it to sell at the restaurant."

Eventually the Patels decided to investigate the commercial grocery landscape to see what their customers were complaining about. What they found in the ethnic food aisles was disheartening. The commercially available simmer sauces lacked the depth, freshness, and authentic texture of real Indian cooking. Driven by the stark realization that the market was missing a truly premium product, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

However, taking a beloved restaurant recipe and scaling it for mass retail production is far from simple. It requires an intricate balancing act of preserving flavor while ensuring shelf stability.

"What you start off with in the restaurant is not what's going to end up in the bottle,” says Patel. “It is a night and day difference. Take vinegar, for example. We don't use as much vinegar in our products in the restaurant, but to maintain the quality and the pH, we have to put a little bit more vinegar in these sauces. So you can taste a little bit of difference."

It took four years of rigorous testing, recipe refinement, and formula tweaking to finally develop a jarred product that Anisha felt proud to put her name on. The result? A line of sauces that retains approximately 80% of the exact same quality, texture, and flavor profile as a dish served fresh from their restaurant kitchen.

The Clean Label Commitment: No Powders, No Seed Oils, No Compromises

What truly separates Twist Foods from legacy brands in the curry sauce space is their unwavering dedication to the "clean label" philosophy. Today’s consumers are more educated than ever about what goes into their bodies. They read ingredient panels, scrutinize nutritional labels, and actively avoid highly processed additives.

Twist Foods caters directly to this health-conscious demographic that includes busy families looking for quick gourmet meals and flavor-exploring Gen Z consumers who love creating fusion dishes—like putting Tikka Masala on a burrito and sharing it on Instagram. Its current lineup features four classic, universally beloved flavors: Tikka, Korma, Butter (a top seller), and Vindaloo. Across all four varieties, the ingredient list is remarkably simple and fully recognizable to the average consumer.

"These are premium products,” says Patel. “We only use fresh ingredients. Everything is 100% what it is. So it's tomatoes. It’s Onions. We don't use any powders except for the spices. Cashew butter is basically our thickening agent instead of some kind of unnatural source."

This commitment to whole foods presents a unique set of challenges, particularly when it comes to manufacturing. Securing a co-packer who was willing to work with fresh ingredients rather than dehydrated substitutes was one of the brand's biggest early hurdles. Many co-packers operate on strict margins and prioritize ease of production over culinary integrity.

"Co-packers were difficult to find,” says Patel. “It's a numbers game for co-packers. If their pricing doesn't work, they're like, 'Well, why don't you just use onion powder?' But that defeats our purpose. And we don't want to be like everybody on the shelf that uses onion powder. There was a lot of back and forth on that. It takes years and it takes time to get what we want." (Those brands looking for a co-packer should check out this RangeMe blog, When & How to Find the Perfect Contract Manufacturer for Scaling Your Brand.) 

Ultimately, Twist Foods found flexible, smaller-scale co-packers that were willing to grow alongside them. If a recipe calls for fresh cream, the co-packer must coordinate with local dairies to ensure 50 gallons of fresh cream are ready on production day. This level of logistical coordination is arduous, but it is exactly what gives Twist Foods its competitive edge.

Mastering the Retail Game: RangeMe, ECRM, and the Art of the Pitch

Having a spectacular product is only half the battle in the CPG industry; getting that product onto store shelves is an entirely different beast. Twist Foods has executed a masterclass in B2B marketing, leveraging platforms like RangeMe and participating in ECRM sessions to secure deals with major retailers and distributors.

The Hy-Vee Triumph

Twist Foods’ journey into Hy-Vee stores began with a submission for the retailer's Innovation Summit via RangeMe. Out of countless applicants, they were selected to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for a two-day immersive summit. There, they learned the intricacies of Hy-Vee's distribution network and, crucially, had the opportunity to demo their products for corporate buyers. Earning the coveted Hy-Vee "smile" of approval set off a chain of events – negotiating pricing, finalizing warehouse logistics, and confirming certifications – that culminated in a full launch roughly a year after their initial submission.

The Kehe Golden Ticket

Not all RangeMe Immediate Opportunity wins come on the first try, and persistence pays off when it comes to submissions. Patel's experience with Kehe – a major North American food distributor – proves that a "no" is often just a "not right now." After being rejected during its first RangeMe submission for Kehe’s TrendFinders, Anisha tried again the following year and was selected. By October, Twist Foods was stocked in Kehe’s warehouses as part of their innovation line for emerging brands, granting them access to hundreds of independent and neighborhood organic grocers.

H-E-B and the Power of Face-to-Face Connection

While digital platforms are essential, Anisha emphasizes that nothing replaces face-to-face interaction. Through ECRM sessions, Twist Foods secured a 10-minute in-person meeting with a buyer from H-E-B. That brief, highly targeted conversation fostered a relationship that made subsequent email follow-ups incredibly effective. Approximately a year after that initial handshake, Twist Foods hit H-E-B shelves.

"When you sit with that buyer for 10 minutes, there's a whole different feeling you get,” says Patel. “And with that connection you make, when I email them, they reply back. It's much easier communication when you get that face-to-face."

Patel's Tactical Advice for Pitching Buyers

Patel's approach to buyer meetings has evolved significantly since she started. Initially, she spent her allotted time pitching the brand's history and product features. Today, her strategy is much more consultative. Recognizing that buyers are incredibly busy and overwhelmed with pitches, she focuses on brevity and intelligence gathering.

"I give them my spiel within a minute or two, and then I let them talk and ask questions,” says Patel. “What are they seeing out there where I can fill a gap? It's good for us to know what's happening out there through those retail buyers."

By listening to buyers, Anisha gleans invaluable market data. When buyers mention that the Indian food category feels "stale," it validates Twist Foods' innovative approach. Furthermore, Anisha actively updates her digital RangeMe profiles to reflect trending buyer demands she learns as ECRM Sessions, such as prominently displaying "No Seed Oils" on its digital banners to catch the eye of health-focused category managers.

The Testing Ground: The Restaurant, Farmers Markets and Future Innovations

Despite its rapid national expansion, Twist Foods remains deeply connected to its local community. It continues to use its Las Vegas restaurants and local Saturday farmers markets as real-time beta testing grounds for new innovations.

When developing a new product, Patel relies on immediate, face-to-face consumer feedback. "We're going to test it with 10 people at the market,” she says. “And if nine of them say, 'Oh, this is so good,’ then we'll go.” This direct line to the consumer ensures that by the time a product reaches a retail buyer, its flavor profile has already been thoroughly validated by the public.

Looking ahead, the Twist Foods innovation pipeline is robust. Moving beyond its core four curry simmer sauces, the brand is currently developing a line of unique chutneys, date-based jams, and a highly anticipated Vindaloo curried hot sauce. These fusion products aim to capture the expanding American palate, offering exotic flavors in highly versatile formats.

Final Thoughts for Emerging CPG Entrepreneurs

Transitioning from the service industry to the packaged goods sector requires an entirely different skill set. When asked what advice she has for fellow entrepreneurs looking to make a similar leap, Patel's response was a mix of stark realism and undeniable passion.

"It's a tough market,” says Patel. “CPG is not easy. When we started, we had no idea what we were getting into. CPG is a whole other industry and you have to be ready. You have to be ready to innovate. You have to be ready to expand. You have to be ready to shut stuff down and open new stuff. And it's just crazy. Growth is unlimited. So you have to be ready."

Key Takeaways

• The Brand: Twist Foods, based in Las Vegas, NV, produces clean label curry simmer sauces.

• Founders: Anisha Patel and her husband, Ritesh Patel, leveraging 14+ years of restaurant industry experience.

• Product Lines: Four core flavors: Tikka, Korma, Butter, and Vindaloo. Known for 100% natural ingredients, no seed oils, and using cashew butter instead of artificial thickeners.

• Retail Success: Secured distribution with major retailers like Hy-Vee, Kehi, and H-E-B within their first two years on the market 

• Growth Strategy: Heavy utilization of RangeMe Immediate Opportunities and face-to-face buyer meetings via ECRM Sessions. 

• Future Pipeline: Testing new product lines in its restaurant and local farmer's markets, including fruit-infused chutneys, date-based jams, and a Vindaloo hot sauce.