About Us

My passion for the rich tastes of African flavors started over 30 years ago at my grandmother's dinner table in Cameroon, where she always paired delicious food with stories, traditions, and jokes. She loved to cook. I remember being very excited every time we visited her because she always made the tastiest foods I had ever eaten. Watching my grandmother, I learned to mix spices, create beautiful flavors, and understand that a good meal is always an experience that goes beyond the food served.

Over the years, I paid forward these lessons by sharing foods made with spice blends I had learned from her with my friends and colleagues. While at university in England, UK, I learned about the foods and recipes from other parts of Africa from friends who, like me, had grown up in a close multi-generational family and learned from their grandmothers.

However, when shopping in America, I was surprised at how difficult it was to find the rich flavors I had enjoyed growing up. The seasonings had a lot of salt, sugars, additives, and ingredients I could find in a typical home kitchen. So, I began making my own seasonings, starting with my grandmother's chicken recipe, and soon found a community of people like me, who cared about the quality of ingredients in foods, enjoyed rich, bold flavors, and were passionate about giving back to their communities.

I, therefore, created Bailan with core values of transparency, commitment to the community, and keeping the customer happy - without compromising the rich, bold flavors of African cuisine.

Today, we proudly list all our ingredients on the labels and delight our customers with consistent, high-quality, delicious blends. In addition, we actively give back to our community by helping hardworking women in Cameroon earn a living wage through free business education and mentoring young women to get into college or grow their businesses in Memphis, TN.

Thank you for coming along this flavorful journey with me, Lenora, and our amazing Bailan family!