Southern New England Spice Company provides premium seasoning to the area

June 15, 2021 | Carolyn Noel
cnoel@thereminder.com

CHICOPEE – Southern New England Spice Company is a leading supplier of high quality and premium seasoning and spice blends that sells to restaurants, colleges, food manufacturers and breweries.

The company has been around for over 20 years and moved their retail location from Hadley to Chicopee about two years ago.

Joe Oleksak became the owner of Southern New England Spice Company about four years ago. According to Oleksak, they carry over 300 spices, seasonings and complimentary food products such as honey, maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla paste, extracts and more.

The Southern New England Spice Company orders their spices in bulk from major distributors and then works to create custom blends for their customers. Oleksak said that one big customer they have is the Hangar Pub and Grill.

The Southern New England Spice Company’s retail store is located at  317 Meadow St. in Chicopee. The retail store is closed for June, but will open back up in July.

Spices are also sold on their website. Oleksak said that products can currently be bought online and shipped all over the United States.

When asked about his favorite spice blend, Oleksak said there are too many to choose. However, he did mention their garlic romano and steakhouse coffee blend.

“We have a blend, garlic romano, that is a cheese powder with garlic and salt and it’s excellent. A lot of places use it for dip or mix it with oils and other places will make a dip for wings,” said Oleksak.

During the past year, Oleksak said that Southern New England Spice Company has been affected by COVID-19 due to their customers losing business.

“I’m affected 100 percent by what the restaurants went through,” he said. “I think restaurants are still struggling a little bit. I’ve had several customers that have closed and won’t be reopening. But the ones that have survived, it’s starting to pick up for them so we’re optimistic that probably towards the late summer and early fall we’ll be approaching normal.”

Costs for spices and blends can vary, but Oleksak said they are usually around $6.50. Southern New England Spice Company also offers salt-free seasonings.

Those interested in learning more are encouraged to visit their website at https://www.southernnewenglandspice.com or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SouthernNewEnglandSpice.

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