Barry Zelcer wants to upgrade your kitchen, your palate, and the entire way you prepare and eat food by creating a new way to experience and deliver spices. Using the pure, potent goodness of spice extracts in a mini spray bottle was his genius idea on how to do your flavoring a favor(ing). Meet Spray Gourmet Liquid Spices.

What food experiences did you have as a child?

My mother was known as the best home cook. She was versatile in her cooking and always had us trying new dishes. But I never fancied myself a foodie — I just enjoy trying new foods and different cuisines.

When did you know you were on to something?

As I started researching various spices and the journeys they take from all corners of the earth before reaching our plates, I started learning more about the processes they go through and how they’re tapered, refined, cleaned, and radiated (sometimes more than once), losing a great deal of the natural flavor as a result. So my partner and I started experimenting and found that when you eat a dish with black pepper in it, you’re only getting hints of the true spice. Unless you bite into a freshly dried peppercorn, you won’t experience the whole, full flavor of black pepper. We wanted to give the consumer this full, beautiful, and bold taste. Our goal became to provide the cleanest, most delicious spices and herbs in their purest form.

Where did you get the idea for your product?

One day I was watching my mom chatting on the phone, barely paying attention to the brisket she was shaking paprika over. She walked away and told me to put it in the oven. When I picked up the pan, I saw a perimeter of paprika on the counter. I knew right then that there had to be a better way to flavor our food.

How long did it take for your product to go from concept to production?

A product can be stuck in conception perpetually; there’s no end to making something better. The trick is to know when to stop and turn to the people around you to get their feedback. We’ve spent a great deal of time on conception — years, in fact — because our product is something that didn’t exist before. Eventually we had to make the decision that the point we were at was as good as it would get and it would only get better once more people had tasted and used it. It was no easy feat, but here we are.

Who helped you the most in getting to where you are now?

There have been so many people who have been willing to help me in pursuing this business. When I look back and think about how I’ve gotten to where I am, it’s fully attributable to the friends and acquaintances who were willing to guide me in their area of expertise without asking for or expecting anything back — from reviewing NDAs, patents, and contracts to tasting the spices with true chef palates to continuing to support my drive to pursue this dream I had for so long. I look forward to being able to pay that kindness forward to others some day.