Meet the Producer: Adnan Durrani

Adnan Durrani, CEO of Saffron Road, is a long-time social entrepreneur and natural-food veteran with his eye on an underserved market—halal foods. He wanted to create a socially conscious company while setting the standard for premium-quality halal cuisine. One year ago, he did just that, introducing the world’s first all-natural, halal-certified, antibiotic-free and certified-humane frozen entrees ($5.49–$5.99) at Whole Foods.

“I had wanted to introduce halal offerings for a few years. But the turning point was when I brought on [executive vice president] Jack Acree as my partner at Saffron Road,” says Durrani. He was confident about the interest in refrigerated selections, but he credits Acree for bringing the products to the freezer section. “The chemistry between two veterans like us has been magical and Saffron Road’s been on a roll ever since.”

These frozen meals go the extra mile, using only humane-certified, antibiotic-free vegetarian-fed meats. The line includes four frozen entrées highlighting popular Indian specialties: Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Birvani, Lamb Saag and Lamb Vindaloo. A year after its debut, Saffron Road has expanded its line with convenient meal and snack options—many great for kids—including Chicken Pad Thai, Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Bites, Chicken Tenders and Tandoori Seasoned Chicken Nuggets ($6.99 each).

Adnan shared more of his story:

Have you witnessed a greater understanding of the need for halal food since you launched a year ago?

Yes, on two fronts: First, the major supermarkets are now just starting to understand and appreciate the underserved demand for halal in the U.S.; and second, the distinction between halal and kosher is being understood. Kosher is concerned primarily with the slaughter method, while halal, especially for Saffron Road, is much more concerned with how the livestock were handled while they are living.

What attracts shoppers to your products?

Fortunately, not just one thing—everything. Saffron Road is perhaps the cleanest and most pure label in the natural frozen aisle. In addition to being halal hand-harvested in the most traditional manner, Saffron Road is also antibiotic-free, growth-hormone–free, 100 percent natural, gluten-free, grass-fed and perhaps the only halal certified and certified humane product in the world. Our consumers, I believe, have emotionally connected with Saffron Road big time. This is due to our core values of sustainability, social responsibility and dedication to natural ingredients, as well as our drive for innovation and culinary excellence.

What is your favorite part of your job? What is your least favorite task?

Favorite: The innovation and assessing our core consumers’ needs, as well as emotionally connecting with the American Muslim community—both in social networks and via email. Least favorite: Having to turn down new products because of cost, which we do often. Given our no-tolerance policy in terms of our natural-food ethics and desire to be the purest natural product in the freezer case (which also means very high cost of goods for us), we have to turn down the American Muslim community in terms of their wanting us to come out with halal fresh-meat products—a category that’s too risky for us at the present time.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Probably a physicist or astronaut—my family are all scientists and I grew up during the Apollo era. Indeed, my major in college was initially physics.

Aside from your products, what three items can you always find in your kitchen?

Organic Valley/Stonyfield milk and yogurt, Murray’s antibiotic-free chicken and Atkins New Zealand Lamb.—Denise Shoukas

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor
and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.

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