Vishwa Masala House

You can find Vishwa Masala House right at Ram Leela Chowk in the main market of Bissau. It’s a busy corner, especially during festival times when the market gets very crowded with shoppers. We’ve been here for a good while now, selling various spices and spice blends that we prepare ourselves. Our shop is pretty traditional and doesn't have much in the way of decoration. A lot of time is spent weighing out powders and sealing up the bags for customers. The air in the shop always smells like cumin, turmeric, and coriander. It’s a small space, but wooden shelves going all the way up to the ceiling help us fit everything. Working in Bissau's main market means seeing a lot of familiar faces every day as people go about their business. Being a huge corporation with branches everywhere isn't our goal; we just like running our little shop. Sometimes the supply trucks arrive late due to the narrow streets, and we have to wait around, but that’s just how it goes here. Cleaning the raw spices and packing the final product is all done by us. It’s a lot of manual labor, but it keeps the quality where it needs to be for our customers. People often stop by just to chat for a minute while they wait for their order to be bagged. Fancy machines aren't used here, just the basics. Running a business at the chowk is a simple life. Our main aim is making sure local families have what they need for their home cooking.