Cape Herb & Spice, Spices from Cape Town with a Kick
Cape Herb & Spice is a spice manufacturer from Cape Town, founded in 1994 by Irene Ivy. What began as a single market cart at the V&A Waterfront has become a brand that now supplies kitchens around the globe with rubs, chilies, and curries. Cheeky in its presentation, serious in its flavor.
Cape Herb & Spice stands for vibrant spice blends from South Africa, born from a passion for aroma and the colorful cuisine of Cape Town, where the paths of the ancient spice route between East and West have always crossed. The manufacturer bundles this variety into practical shaker tins, usually 100g, ranging from smoky BBQ rubs and fiery chilies to Indian curries. Here, you will find our complete collection of the brand's range, from mild herb salt to the hellishly hot Ghost Chilli.
1994, a market cart at the V&A Waterfront
The story of Cape Herb & Spice began in 1994 with a small market cart run by young businesswoman Irene Ivy at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront.
What started as a humble stand for herbs and spices grew over 30 years into a manufacturer with more than 600 employees, whose tins can now be found in kitchens around the globe. Just as Irene intended from the start, three values continue to drive the brand: innovation, taste, and quality—and you can taste this commitment in every single blend.
Cape Town sits at the southern tip of Africa, right where the paths of East and West have crossed for centuries on the old spice route. This encounter of cultures still shapes the brand today—sometimes African, sometimes Indian, sometimes Mediterranean. Cape Herb & Spice jokingly calls itself "your cheeky sous-chef on a culinary journey," and that is exactly how the blends appear: bold, colorful, and spicy.
The fact that a market cart became a globally sought-after brand has much to do with Irene's instinct for flavors. Today, Cape Herb & Spice belongs to the South African Libstar family, but the character from the early days remains, curious and bold, just as Irene embodied it. Also remaining is the desire to venture into the new and constantly expand the range with flavors from around the world.
Rubs, chilies, and curries from one manufacturer
The range extends from savory BBQ rubs and hot chili tins to classic Indian curries, all in the signature shaker tin with a practical insert for precise dosing, without getting your hands messy. You will find more than 15 of the brand's blends gathered here. Depending on the variety, the tins hold between 75g and 160g, enough for many barbecue evenings, curries, and spontaneous kitchen experiments.
The grill rubs include the sweet-savory Texan Steakhouse Rub and the smoky Smokehouse BBQ Rub, as well as the spicy Louisiana Cajun and the Caribbean Jerk. Those who prefer herbal Mediterranean flavors will find rosemary, sage, and lemon united in the Mediterranean Roasts Rub, and the Greek Lemon & Herb brings Greek sunshine to chicken and fish. You can find them bundled together in our BBQ spices collection.
The 4 chili tins range from the sweet-hot Sriracha to the smoky Chipotle and the fiery Piri Piri, up to the Ghost Chilli Indian Nagaland, the hottest of the series with up to 1 million Scoville. For those who like Indian food, there are the 3 Curry Originals: Tikka Tandoori, Madras, and the aromatic Garam Masala, all gathered in our Curry spices collection.
Brand new to the range are the Argentinian Style Rub in a chimichurri style for steak and grilled vegetables, as well as the crispy Chilli Crunch Rub with fried onions for sprinkling; both will be available as soon as the next delivery arrives.
Traceable, non-irradiated, A-Grade tested
Behind the cheeky appearance is a serious stance on quality: honest, careful, and reliable, from the raw material to the finished tin.
Over 80 percent of raw materials are sourced by Cape Herb & Spice directly from the source, with a traceable supply chain so that it is always clear what is in the tin and where it comes from. A portion of the money thus flows back into cultivation instead of being lost to middlemen. This care begins with the farmer and only ends when the sealed tin sits in your kitchen.
The factories are certified to the strict BRCGS standard with the highest A-Grade, and the brand was the first provider in South Africa to commit to a completely non-irradiated range. You will look in vain for artificial flavor enhancers; many blends are labeled vegan, halal, and kosher—the flavor comes from herbs, spices, and salt.
The company also showed ingenuity in packaging, with the world's first clear spice mill for the retail trade. It is precisely this reliability that makes the colorful tins a pantry staple you can blindly rely on in everyday life.
From market cart to the whole world
The single stand from 1994 has become a brand that now exports about 80 percent of its goods, reaching as far as Europe, Asia, and North America.
The award-winning range is developed by experienced food technologists and boldly follows global taste trends without losing its own identity. The lively, often humorously designed tins are recognizable across language barriers and have long been found in kitchens from Cape Town to Sydney, London, and Hong Kong.
Behind every blend is a team that tastes and combines spices from around the world until the balance is just right. In recent years, new markets such as Norway, Switzerland, and Greece have been added; the market cart of yesteryear has officially arrived on the world stage. Hats off.
The fact that the brand is now among South Africa's best-known spice houses is no coincidence, but the result of perseverance, curiosity, and a love for the craft. This courage in taste is exactly what turned a market stand into a small global brand, and anyone who has ever held one of their tins will recognize the hallmark everywhere.
Our recommendation for your kitchen
For beginners, we love the milder blends: the Greek Lemon & Herb for roasted chicken and the Texan Steakhouse Rub for a grilled steak.
Those seeking heat should work their way up from Sriracha through Piri Piri to the Ghost Chilli, and for an Indian night, we believe the Garam Masala should only be added to the curry shortly before serving. Feel free to try your way through the tins—one complements the other, and just a handful brings half the world to your plate.
For the barbecue season, put together a small collection of three or four rubs so you have the right seasoning for every cut of meat. And when the days grow shorter, a curry with Garam Masala warms you almost as well as a blanket. The colorful tins also make great little gifts.
If you prefer something more local, take a look at Altes Gewürzamt by Ingo Holland, the German spice manufacturer in our range. Either way, from Cape Town to Texas to South India, there is something for every taste here. Each tin carries a piece of Cape Town inside it. Let yourself be surprised by where the spoon leads you.
