Food was never just food.

I grew up in Mogadishu, where food was never just food. It was family, love, celebration and connection.

Some of my happiest memories are in the kitchen with my grandmothers, learning to cook with the fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices around us. They taught me that the simplest ingredients, when brought together with care, can create something truly special.

When I moved to London, I carried those flavours and memories with me.

Years later, my daughter developed multiple food allergies. Suddenly, food became something I had to question. I spent hours in supermarket aisles reading labels, searching for a sauce I could trust, but I couldn't find one.

And something else was missing. The bold, vibrant African flavours I had grown up with simply weren't there on the supermarket shelves.

So, I went back to my kitchen.

I started making my own sauces at home, using the flavours I knew, loved and had learned from my grandmothers. What began as something I made for my family soon became a bigger dream.

In 2017, I founded Saida's Kitchen to bring the rich, delicious, healthy flavours of African cooking into more homes, making it easier for everyone to create beautiful, flavour-packed meals.

Every sauce is made as nature intended, with no added sugar, preservatives, additives, artificial colours, flavourings, milk, nuts, gluten or E numbers. The only sugars are the ones that occur naturally.

I wanted families like mine to have a better choice of sauces: bold flavour and a short, honest ingredients list.

Today, you can find Saida's Kitchen at Sainsbury's and in hundreds of independent food shops.