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New minimum order - not a scam! Sun 7 Mar 2010

The curry gods have been kind to me and orders are going through the roof, but oddly enough that leaves me with a problem. It's like this; Packet Curry is supposed to be an incy wincy side business, a bit of fun and a service to fellow curry lovers like yourself. But since orders have shot up I'm spending way to much time packing and posting - more than my 3 little kids and my other half can stand any longer - so I'm hoping the new minimum order of 21 euros will cut down my solitary confinement in the packing room and give me more time to change nappies, do the cleaning and ironing. We'll see how it goes...

1 Free packet per order while stocks last Mon 1 Mar 2010

Got some stuff hitting it's sell by date in April, so I've decided to give it away - rather than throw it away. I hate waste, it makes me feel dirty :)

Vietnamese yum scrum Tue 9 Feb 2010

Had a busy morning adding three Vietnamese packets, including a very very very nice Vietnamese curry. Not everyone's cup of tea I expect, but if you're up for trying something new I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed - but no promises.

Announcing new stuff Sun 8 Nov 09

It's been a long slog, but I've added a new section today called rest of world, there's only 3 packets in there but I promise they're all the business. I tried loads of different spicy stuff over the last 3 months and these came out top - hope you like um!

IMPORTANT: Delivery delay Fri 29 Oct 09 Back to normal

On my way to UK this evening to pick up another load of stock, including lots of new curries and I won't be back till next Wednesday. I'll re start deliveries on Thursday 29th. Sorry to keep you waiting, but it'll be worth it.

New to Packet Curry? Save 10% Tue 23 Sep 09

In my bid to have packet curry take over the world and have us all eating curry for breakfast, I'd like to offer you 10% off your first order. Just sign up to the newsletter at the bottom of this page and watch your inbox.

Credit card payment coming soon Tue 22 Sep 09

Right now you're able to pay for your lovely curries with either PayPal (it's secure and you don't need an account) of by cheque (which has gone down well), but some of you have asked if you can pay in the usual way by credit card - which makes sense. I've resisted till now cuz you wouldn't believe the hoops you need to jump through and all red tape that gets strewn at you - but big brave me has battled through it all and signed up with a French bank to take payments on-line. Not live till late October though.

Thanks for the curry reviews everyone Tue 22 Sep 09

I honestly can't believe it; I sent out some emails asking a few customers if they'd care to review a curry they'd got from me and the response has been magnificent - thanks so much everyone . If you've tried one of my curries please dive in and let everyone know what you think and help keep the site going.

Just click a link to review a curry: (thank a lot)
Butter Chicken
Biryani Mix
Chicken Karahi
Chicken Curry
Chicken Madras
Chicken Moghlai
Chicken Tikka Masala
Goan Fish Curry
Lamb Curry
Tandoori Chicken
Vegetable Jalfrezi
Fish Fry (Green)
Fish Fry (Red)
Chutney Chicken
Chicken with Peppers and Onion
Chicken Achari
Rogan Josh
Vindaloo
Pav Bhaji
Prawn Masala
Chhole Curry (Chickpea)
Thai Tom Yum Soup
Thai Green Curry
Szechuan Chilli Ginger Garlic Stir Fry
Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup

Price cut (avg. €1.5) and more countries Tue 08 Sep 09

I've got in some cheaper packaging, done away with recorded delivery (only ever had to find 2 lost orders) and now print the stamps online, so delivery just got cheaper all round folks. A few customers have left France and asked if I could deliver to their new country, so I've added the UK, Spain, Germany and Monaco as delivery destinations to keep their tummies happy.

Lip-smacking curries on the way Tue 08 Sep 09

Anybody see Rick Stein on the box cooking Indonesian Rendang Curry - looked amazing? Well I tracked it down, got some gorgeous samples, gobbled them all up and ordered an absolute shed load to put on the site. I've also been troughing other curries from around the world and have some wicked Vietnamese and Japanese curries on order as well. Bad news is they're not here till mid October. Put yourself on the mailing list (bottom of the page) if you want me to let you know when they're in.

How to make Tom Yum Soup Mon 10 Aug 09

Warning, this stuff is like fire water, but the lemon grass flavour makes you want to just keep eating and eating - it's Thailand's most deliciously famous soup. Go to the Tom Yum Soup page to get the full gen.

Reorder by phone - call 0960 183104 Sun 09 Aug 09

Don't know about you but I like convenience and good customer service, so starting right now existing customers can call 0960 183104 any time of the day or night and leave an order. Give it ago...

Customer reviews turned on Mon 03 Aug 09

This is what a Google search turned up:

Customer reviews are a powerful first step in establishing believability, credibility, and a sense of security for new customers. They help to break down natural barriers and distrust new consumers feel with an unfamiliar merchant.

Don't know about you, but I always read the reviews on Amazon and places like that before I buy, however I've not turned them on before now because nasty spammers usually reck havoc with lots of Viagra links, so fingers crossed they've all got a mild dose of swine flu.

7/10 Customers reorder Thu 09 Jul 09

The two things enjoy most about running Packet Curry in France are first the buzz I get from knowing people enjoy the curry and second the challenge of marketing the site so that more and more people find out about the curry. I know that my stuff isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but 7 out of 10 customers reordering will do me - but the big question is what happened to the other 3? I reckon they've gone back to the UK :)

Packet Curry is in the news Wed Jul 8th 2009

I meant to publish this a while ago, it's an article that The Connection newspaper did on Packet Curry and my first year in business.

How long have you been in business?
Packet Curry was started in August 2008 after a small trial amongst friends confirmed my taste buds weren't lying and that the Indian curries were as good as I though they were. Since then sales have steadily increased every month as more and more people find out about the website and I recently added a few of my favorite Thai and Chinese packets to give people a bit more choice.

Why did you choose to do it?
I wasn't looking for a business to start up in France, but when an Indian friend gave me 80 packets of curry he got in India as a thank you for some work I did for him - I knew immediately that they'd go down a storm with Brits in France. o in all honesty I started Packet Curry to share these great curries with other Brits in France who I knew couldn't get a decent curry for love nor money. Granted some people like to cook there own, but even so these curries will give any cook a run for their money and the convenience is a huge plus. Naturally I expected to make a few euros from my trouble, but nothing much as the profit margin is tiny - the main driving force is the satisfaction of sharing the curries and running a small online business where I'm in full control. Another reason I was able to do it is because for my day job I design websites, which meant I didn't have the expense of paying someone else to build the site.

What type of business are you?
Unlike most Brits in France trying to set up a business I had it pretty easy as my partner Valerie, who is French and works as a professional business adviser, handled the paperwork for me. I initially registered a micro entreprise with URSSAF as profession libérale for my website design. I only had to extended my activity code in order to be able to sell the curries online. I am now in the process of switching to the regime micro social in order to pay my social charges according to my actual turnover on a monthly basis, as per the auto entrepreneur regime. The current system is quite confusing as you always have to make sure you save enough to cope with the social charges regularisation. With the auto entrepreneur there are no bad surprises and it reflects your activity. Anyone with questions about setting up a business in France should take a look at www.StartBusinessInFrance.com, where you can get free, professional advice and discuss your problems with other would be business people in France.

What was your expected income?
Because Packet Curry is a side business set up more for the fun of it than profit, expected income was and is low. Anyone selling small margin products will tell you that you need to shift one hell of a lot before you can buy your first Jag. It was always my intention for it to stay small and manageable, so I've got no intention to diversify to increase income or get greedy and put the prices up. Most customers reorder which helps with the income - it keeps my kids in nappies so I can't complain. The main costs of setting up the Packet Curry were the stock, advertising and outlay for packaging.

What were the hurdles?
In a way I was lucky in that I knew I had a great product and the little bit of research that I did showed that France was full of Brits crying out for a curry, so in essence my hurdles were business registration, building the website and the logistics of getting the curries. The website was the biggest hurdle, I wanted it to have attitude, be really simple to use and informative - the sites had tons of good feedback and sales are slowly increasing so I guess it was worth all the late nights and black coffee. I can remember when the very first order came in, I was ecstatic - it felt like I'd won the pools or something. Even now when an order comes in I get a buzz and quite a few people send in comments about how much they love the curries which alway makes me smile.

What would you have done differently?
Any business starting up needs to keep its costs right down to a minimum, in my case I probably spent too much on advertising in the wrong places. My prospective customers are all over France and so in hindsight I would have been better placing more ads in national publications like the Connection rather than expensive local publications which were a bit hit and miss. I can highly recommend spending time on online marketing such as buzz marketing and email campaigns, although both are time consuming they bring in customers and get the curies talked about. It turns out my best marketing comes from happy customers spreading the word to their friends and talking about Packet Curry on forums all over France - to date the site has been visited from people in over 270 cities all over France, resulting in over 100,000 pages viewed.

Previous career and life
For the 10 years before moving to France I worked as a freelance Microsoft internet and network engineer and on moving to France retrained in website development and all the lovely technologies that go with it. After having been self employed for so long in the UK, the idea of working for someone else when I moved to France was a complete non starter - hence I signed up as an Auto Entrepreneur. As you can see I had no experience of running a curry business - but that's the beauty of setting up a small business, you just need an idea and the self-belief to carry it through.

A year in the life of Packet Curry Fri Jul 3rd

Thought someone might find this interesting, it's just a few statistics from my first year selling packet curry in France.
-site visited from 330 French cities
-21014 Visitors to the site
-135124 Page views
-864 Customers
-Sold 8198 packets
-Top of page 1 in Google
-Hours spent: squillions
-Personal satisfaction A+
If you could do with a bit of business advice or have a question you could try Start Business in France, it's free and run by a professional - my partner Valerie.

Sorry - Hang tight Thu Jul 2nd - Back to normal

If you've ordered in the last few days please hang tight - I've had a staggering amount of orders in the last few days and I'm working like a dog to get them sent out. Should all be sent by Sunday though, after which things'll be back to normal and shipping within 24 hours.

Two new packets Mon Jun 29th

Time for something new on the menu, so please say hello to Prawn Masala and Pav Bhaji. Pav is pretty unusual and I think most people probably haven't tried it or even heard of it - I could eat it everyday every meal for the rest of my life (mild exaggeration:)...luuurve it!!

Stocked to the hilt Mon Jan 19th

The word is definitely spreading and more and curry starved Brits have been making their way to the site to get their fill. Hence the cupboard is running pretty low and I've just had to call my mate in India to get another stash sent over - have no fear they'll be here mid Feb. I know for a fact the Vindaloo (sorry no pic) is on it's last legs so if you need your fix it's probably best to get an order in before they've all been eaten up.

Meet the packet curry makers Thu Nov 21st

This video introduces the lovely people behind Parampara curry - enjoy!

Although I've been to India quite a few times myself, I had the pleasure of meeting the guys and girls from Parampara in Paris last week at the International food trade fair. I spent a day with these guys on their stand and I have to say the interest in their curry product was mind blowing, from restaurant owners to super markets - and believe it or not the frenchies walking past the stand were queuing up to get a taste! Anyways, special thanks to Amit and Savio for making me so welcome, and Amit I'm looking forward to that round of golf with you one day! Best wishes to you all...

To buy or not to buy, that is the question? Thu Nov 14th

Like a good (really good!) curry? Buy. Not had a curry that is actually from India before? Buy. Don't live next to an Indian takeaway? Buy. Not had a curry in ages? Buy. Want a curry delivered in the next 3 days? Buy. Believe the buzz (it's 100% real)? Buy. Like healthy eating? Buy. Fancy a beer and a top-notch curry next Friday night? Buy. Jaw wired together? Don't buy.

The proof is in the pudding Thu Nov 13th

As of today www.packetcurry.com has been visited from 225 cities across France and has sold 1000's packets of the lovely stuff, with stacks of you reordering over and over - a huge thanks for that! The map is taken directly from my Google analytics website statistics that I use to monitor the site and sales.

How to make a naan by Bernadette Wed 12 Nov 08

This recipe produces light supple naans, without a tandoor oven. Much nicer than the horrid dry shop bought ones.

Ingrediants:
500g plain flour
500g self raising flour
140 ml milk
420 ml water
3 tbsp natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp melted ghee or butter
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp black onion seeds, optional (also called kalonji or nigella)
200g (approx) melted ghee or butter

Method:
1. Sieve flours into a large bowl
2. Add onion seed and mix
3. Put milk, water, yoghurt, salt, egg and melted ghee (or butter) and sugar into a jug and whisk until smooth
4. Make a well in the centre of te flour and gradually add sufficient liquid from step 3 to make a smooth pliable dough.
5. Tip out the dough and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic
6. Form the dough into a all and brush the outside of the dough with vegetable oil and cover with clingfilm. This prevents the dough from oxidising and discolouring.
7. Place in the fridge overnight
8. Next day, remove dough from fridge and bring back to room temp.
9. Divide dough into 16 (large) or 32 (small) balls. Pull each piece of dough into a tear-drop shaped naan. Aim for a slightly un even thickness.
10. Heat a large frying pan until VERY hot. Slap on a naan and brush the upper face with melted ghee (or oil).
11. Cook for about 45 to 60 seconds until the underside of the naan is blistering.
12. Flip the naan over and cook other side.

These naans can be frozen successfully. Just defost and ding in micro for about 20 secs or wrap in foil and heat in conventional oven

In business? In France? Got questions? Tue 11 Nov 08

Most Brits that come to France and have a go at setting up a business in France have a hard time of it - even if you can manage the language, the endless red tape is depressing and can make you feel totally lost. I've been lucky, my other half is French and works as a professional small business advisor so I had it easy peezy - anyways she now offers free advice to Brits via her shiny new site at www.startbusinessinfrance.com. Hope it helps someone!

Delay in posting Mon 27 Oct 08 Back to normal

We're off to the UK for a few days to show our new daughter Enora to my family and friends. So with regret, orders made on Tue 28 - Fri 31 Oct will be posted to you on Sat 1 Nov. Please accept my apologies and rest assured this won't happen again - 3 children are enough!

Whoopee we now do Thai and Chinese - Sun 26 Oct 08

If you're in France and have tried the packet curries you'll know how good they are - and if you're like me you'd quite like a Thai or Chinese now and then as well. So to make it happen I ordered 20+ Thai and Chinese samples over the summer, had a great time eating them all and narrowed it down to the 5 now in the shop. Feedback and suggestions always welcome. Enjoy.

When is a packet not a packet? Mon 6 Oct 08

I few of you emailed in asking what's in the packet? Is it powder?. Is the curry really as good as you say? I know the word packet makes you think poor quality, boring powder, nasty processed food, chemical taste and the like - these packets are the exception. Within the outer packet is an inner sealed packet with a slightly moist mix of totally natural unprocessed spices. Open the inner packet and your taste buds immediately try to vacate your mouth and jump into the packet, your saliva glands involuntarily go into overdrive - as always if you find this to be a load of old bull you can have a full refund.

Free advertising for business owners Mon 6 Oct 08

Since starting Packet Curry here in France I've found out how expensive it is to advertise in the press and on web sites (especially if you're targeting the whole of France), so being a Microsoft trained network engineer, a full time geek and a business owner in France I'm setting up a 100% free national advertising network in France. It's not going to replace your current advertising strategies, but it's sure going to help you find more customers and there is no fee, zap zilch nothing to pay. It's early days yet, but I expect to have it up and running early next year, so if you have a website and your customers are in France drop me a line and I'll update you nearer the time.

Pleaaaze spread the word! Mon 6 Oct 08

I setup Packet Curry because I love a good curry and because I guessed there must be plenty of Brits in France, like me, who couldn't get one for love nor/or money. If you've tried and loved them I'd really appreciate a plug on your local Anglo Info forum. I can't do it myself as it would break their advertising rules - but a happy genuine customer singing the praises of packet curry should be good to go. FYI I hardly make a dime from packet curry, it's a labour of love. Pick your area...

Brittany
Normandy
Alsace
Aquitaine
Burgundy
Val-de-Loire
French Alps
Riviera
Languedoc
Limousin
Midi Pyrenees
Paris
Loire
Poitou Charentes
Provence

2 new curries with more to come Wed 3 Sep 08

The mighty Vindaloo and the fiery Rogan Josh are 2 new packets I managed to get hold of and are now sat patiently in the store looking for a good home. If you like it hot get a vindy, they're a real killer. I'll also be adding Thai Green Curry and Tom Yum Soup next month, so don't forget to come back - or better still add yourself to the mailing list at the bottom of this page.

Stock up / sell out / stock up / sell out Mon 1 Sep 08

My best customer has now reordered 4 times, with nearly every customer having reordered at least once - so I've had to get the man in India to crank the handle and send me a new box full. Which he did, so for the next month or so stocks should be OK.

TV cooking shows direct from India Thur 7 Aug 08

Rajshri is one of India’s oldest, largest and most successful integrated entertainment houses, with a strong focus on Indian culture, tradition, values and best of all I've found they have 5 food channels. So if you're a bit of a foody and like a good how to cook TV show you'll love these - very Bollywood! One problem though, some are in Hindi so you'll need to click around till you find an English show.

Buy Buy Buy Tue 22 July 08

The new site is live and working and ready to sell you an amazing packet curry from India.

Whats new? I'm now able to send you order, invoice and shipping confirmation emails, so that you know exactly where your order is up to. Nearly everyone comes back to buy more, so now if you create an optional account you don't need to keep typing in you details every time you reorder. What else? I'm now able to expand the store with juicy new products, which I couldn't easily do before - so watch out for Packet Curry Starters.

I've made the site as simple as I can to use, but if you have any suggestions on how to improve it I'd love to hear from you. Pop me a message via the contact page.

Don't buy today! - Mon 21 July 08

I'm bang in the middle of updating the site so please don't buy any curries today. Back to normal tomorrow.

At-last Mon June 9nd

The new stock is available - be quick!

New stock Arriving! Mon June 2nd

Loads of new stock will be online Monday 9th June. Sorry for the wait.

What's going on at Packet Curry? Apr 5 08

I started this packet curry thing as a bit of fun and have been completely blown away buy its success, so a huge thanks to everyone who ordered during the 8 weeks we've been online. Over 50% of you have made a second order and some curry lovers have been moved enough to leave comments on the review page - thanks everyone.

On to the nitty gritty. Running a packet curry business in France was a calculated shot in the dark and of the 400 curry packets I put online to test the market less than 100 are left, most of those are Paneer (cottage cheese) which have been poor sellers - hey ho! Anyway, not with standing the Paneers, we're going to sell out very soon and new stock isn't expected until early May. Just thought you should know.

BBQ Tandoori Chicken Apr 5 08

My supplier in India, by mistake, doubled-up on my Tandoori Chicken order and I have 33 packets left. If you like Tandoori I can seriously recommend marinating chicken (lightly scored) in plain yogurt with the tandoori mix - leave it for a day then BBQ.

Yum bloody yum yum.