Meet Kim Wiseman, the Montreal entrepreneur behind Kanel premium spices

Kim Wiseman’s connection to spices started early. “My parents spent years in India, so I grew up in a house with tons of spices,” she explains. Her love of spices carried into adulthood, when she began experimenting with her own blends while cooking.

After going on maternity leave from her role as head of customer engagement at DavidsTea in 2015—and welcoming a second child in 2017—she found herself in need of simpler, more efficient ways to prepare meals. She went looking for mealtime shortcuts, but found the pre-made spice blends sold in grocery stores lacked flavour and had unwanted ingredients. “I couldn’t find really fresh, flavourful ingredients, or I found a lot of fillers I didn’t necessarily want to give to my kids,” Wiseman explains. “I saw a real gap in the market for high-end, premium, clean spice blends.”

Montreal-based Wiseman was inspired to start her own spice blend business, which she named Kanel, meaning “cinnamon” in many Scandinavian languages. She spent a year developing a business plan that involved company-owned retail stores selling directly to consumers—much like the DavidsTea model.

Branding was also important, with packaging featuring an elegant, minimal design. “I knew I didn’t have a big budget for marketing or advertising, so it would have to be a product that people wanted to display on their counters and social media platforms,” Wiseman says. The packaging was eco-friendly— cardboard tubes, compostable bags and recyclable tins.

The blends themselves would be fresh and innovative, using premium ingredients. Wiseman worked on recipe development to come up with 24 products, including spice blends and a salt line, one using Italian black truffle, which is still one of Kanel’s most popular products. “It was a lot of trial and error,” she explains of recipe development. “We always try to push the envelope and bring unique products to the market.” For example, Kanel’s take on everything bagel spice, Montreal Bagel Spice, has flax seeds, nigella and less salt than its competitors. Then, the entire blend is toasted to add more depth of flavour and crunch.

By 2018, Wiseman had opened the first Kanel brick-and-mortar location at CF Carrefour Laval, followed by four more stores in Quebec and Ontario. Sadly, plans to expand across Canada were halted by COVID. “Malls shuttered and everything stopped,” she says. “It was close to 50 employees that I had to lay off overnight. That was really heartbreaking.” Wiseman knew she’d have to pivot her business model quickly to survive, so she approached grocery stores about stocking her products.

Her first target was Avril Supermarché Santé, a high-end Quebec grocer with a dozen-odd stores. “I relentlessly contacted them with emails and phone calls, and I just kept following up,” Wiseman says. “I knew I needed to get in there.” Kanel finally landed on Avril shelves in the fall of 2020, which led to a buyer from Loblaw contacting Wiseman to pilot Kanel products in one of its Quebec locations in 2021. The brand performed well, opening the door for Kanel to be stocked in 300 Loblaw locations across Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. “It was huge,” Wiseman says of the milestone. “It was a really big moment for the brand and really put us on the map.”

Next came Sobeys, which began stocking Kanel in May 2025. The grocer sells Kanel’s spice blends, salts and its cocktail rimmers, which Wiseman launched in 2023. She was inspired to develop the product line after noticing customers posting photos on social media using Kanel spice blends to rim cocktails. “It was another surprising performer,” Wiseman explains. “People went crazy for it.”

Wiseman plans to continue expanding the Kanel product line, which may include single-use, lower-commitment formats in 2026. However, business challenges continue, with the uncertainty of the U.S. tariffs being the latest hurdle. In spite of that, Wiseman has no regrets about starting her own business. “It’s been a wild journey,” she says. “But when I meet people who tell me they use my spices every day in their kitchen, it’s really gratifying.” 

This article was first published in Canadian Grocer's August 2025 issue.