Yasameen Sajady Maazah is the story of two sisters from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, who started bottling their mother’s cilantro chutney for farmers’ markets in 2014 and built it into a sauce brand now sold in Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target and Costco. Sajady is the co-founder and CEO of Maazah, a Minneapolis company that makes Afghan-inspired sauces and lentil dips, and her sister Sheilla is the co-founder and creative director. According to the Star Tribune, the company raised a $2 million seed round from Minnesota investors and is sold in about 1,500 stores. Here is how the sisters got there, what is in the lineup and what the business still has to prove.
Yasameen Sajady Maazah: Who Are the Founders?
Maazah was founded by sisters Yasameen and Sheilla Sajady. According to the company’s Our Story page, they are first-generation Afghan Americans who were inspired by the flavors of their mother’s kitchen, and the brand name comes from a Farsi word the company translates as “flavor, taste, JOY!”
Yasameen is the chief executive officer. The Nosh trade site calls her co-founder and CEO, and Food Business News quotes both sisters as co-founders. A 2021 article in Remarkable’s partner program describes Sheilla as the creative director, which fits the brand’s playful, design-led look.
The sisters grew up in Coon Rapids, a northern suburb of the Twin Cities, according to the Star Tribune. That Minnesota base is part of their identity and part of their strategy: the early investors were mostly local. That mix of heritage and hometown is the core of the Yasameen Sajady Maazah story.
A Mother’s Magic Green Sauce
The origin is a recipe. The Our Story page says their parents left Afghanistan in pursuit of the American dream, and that growing up in the Midwest as first-generation Afghan Americans, food played a significant role in preserving their culture. Their mom and aunties taught them cherished cooking techniques and secrets of their culinary heritage.
A blog post on RangeMe tells a smaller story inside it. The sisters came from a big family that often cooked together, and one day their mom added fresh ginger to her already delicious cilantro, vinegar and lemon chutney. From there, Maazah was born.
The sauce itself is a staple of Afghan cooking. The sisters describe it as their mother’s signature Afghan chutney, or “magic green sauce,” and say they put it on everything growing up. The family recipe is the creative seed of Yasameen Sajady Maazah, and it gave the brand a founder story that needed no invention.
Farmers’ Markets in 2014
The business began small. The Our Story page says they launched Maazah by handcrafting their mom’s magical green sauce in small batches and selling it at farmers’ markets in Minneapolis. A 2021 Remarkable profile dates the founding to 2014.
RangeMe describes the early years as a weekend activity: the sisters and their mom made chutney in their kitchen and took it to sell at farmers’ markets, while on weekdays Yasameen worked and studied. Early distribution also included co-op grocers in Minnesota, according to Nosh.
Farmers’ markets are a classic proving ground for specialty food. They let founders watch real customers taste and react, and they cost very little compared with retail slotting. For Yasameen Sajady Maazah, those weekends were the market research.
From MBA Case Study to Full-Time CEO
The business and Yasameen’s education grew together. RangeMe reports that she worked and went to school for her MBA while using Maazah as a case study for her degree. The sources reviewed do not name the school, so this article does not.
The turning point came in January 2020. During her last semester, according to RangeMe, Yasameen decided to quit her full-time job and, armed with an 18-month plan and her newly acquired MBA, take Maazah to the next level. It was a significant bet: leaving a stable job to run a small food company.
She described the shift in simple terms in a Remarkable profile. The sisters needed to make the transition from face-to-face selling at farmers’ markets to more retail and online selling. Quitting her job and writing a plan is the founder moment of Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
The Pandemic Rebrand
Two months after she left her job, the pandemic hit. RangeMe says Yasameen used that time to rebrand Maazah, changing its manufacturing and packaging and relaunching it with a big retail push.
The rebrand mattered in two ways. First, moving to contract manufacturing made production scalable. The Star Tribune notes that Maazah is made in the U.S. by contract manufacturers. Second, new packaging gave the brand a stronger shelf presence, with the bold, playful look visible today.
That look shows up on the website, which uses lines such as “Ketchup ain’t got chut on this” and “Magic is real. We’ve tasted it.” Press attention followed. The New York Times food writer Florence Fabricant wrote about the green chutney in December 2020, and the site quotes her calling it “an excellent slather.” The pandemic rebrand is the strategic turn in Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
The Kroger Supplier Accelerator
The first big retail validation came from a program. RangeMe’s profile describes Maazah’s participation in the 2021 cohort of Kroger’s Go Fresh and Local Supplier Accelerator, a program that helps small local brands prepare for supermarket shelves. Increased notoriety from the program helped the company outside Kroger too, the post says, with additional opportunities and larger distribution.
Supplier accelerators are a recurring theme in specialty food. They offer education on pricing, logistics and buyer expectations, and they put small brands in front of retail decision makers. For a company moving from farmers’ markets, that guidance is hard to get any other way.
The sisters also drew on regional support, such as the Minnesota food community and, according to a Remarkable profile, a General Mills-backed program for local founders. The accelerator years are the retail education behind Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
The Product Line: Sauces and Lentil Dips
Today the lineup has two families. The Maazah website lists sauces, including Cilantro Chutney, Mango Chutney, Lemon Aioli and Chili Aioli, and lentil dips in four flavors: Basil Jalapeño, Classic Lemon, Roasted Red Pepper and Turmeric Ginger.
The sauces came first. Food Business News reports that Maazah launched nationally into Whole Foods Market in November 2024 with a line of three: cilantro chutney, mango chutney and lemon aioli. The lentil dips followed, with a debut at the Minnesota grocer Lunds & Byerlys. In that announcement, Yasameen said the dips reflect the founders’ love for bold flavors, wholesome ingredients and the joy of sharing food with loved ones, and Sheilla said they would expand to other retailers later that year.
The brand pitches the products as goes-with-anything. The site’s recipe section shows the range: Mango Chili Wings, Falafel Pita Wrap, Naanchos, Shakshuka, Bolani and even a mango chutney mocktail and a mango chutney cheesecake. The lineup is the product backbone of Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
Winning Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts and Costco
The retail path went step by step. In early 2024, Nosh reported that Maazah had lined up distribution in 270 Target stores in the Midwest and Southwest, and was focused solely on brick-and-mortar retail, where it was then sold in more than 400 doors nationwide. The article noted that the founders launched the brand to recreate and share their mother’s magic green chutney recipe.
In November 2024, the brand launched nationally in Whole Foods Market. Food Business News adds that it has since launched nationally at Sprouts Farmers Market and has seen momentum with Costco across multiple regions. By the time of the seed announcement, the Star Tribune reported that Maazah was in 1,500 stores.
The homepage now shows retail and delivery logos, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, FreshDirect, Shipt, Instacart, Amazon, Happy Grocery, Bi-Rite and Misfits Market, plus a wholesale link through Faire. Logos are images without labels in some cases, so confirm any specific retailer on the store locator. The retail ladder is the growth engine of Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
Funding Before the Seed: Angels and Wefunder
Maazah raised money in several ways before the seed round. The Star Tribune says most of its early angel investors were also Minnesota firms, including Tundra Ventures and Groove Capital.
The company also ran a community fundraise. On Wefunder, its campaign shows $136,841 raised from 82 investors, with the last funding in May 2025, using a revenue-based financing structure. The campaign says the money would support growth and expansion and a stronger operations team, with hiring in supply chain and logistics as Maazah enters new retail channels, and names Whole Foods, Target and Costco as targets.
Revenue-based financing is a model where investors are repaid from a share of revenue, which can suit consumer brands with steady sales. It is also a sign that the sisters were stretching to fund inventory and retail growth. The pre-seed funding mix is a lesson in resourcefulness for Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
Inside the $2 Million Seed Round
In early 2026, Maazah announced a $2 million seed round. According to Food Business News, the round was led by a group of Minnesota-based family offices, and the funding would support nationwide retail growth, expanded distribution, scaled production and product innovation.
Sheilla said in the announcement that the sisters built Maazah to bring bold, globally inspired flavors to everyday tables, and that the funding lets them accelerate growth while staying true to their roots and commitment to quality.
The Star Tribune adds financial context: the company is “inching closer to profitability,” and its founders said they set out to establish trust with the local investor community. Yasameen put it simply, saying it is important to establish trust with the investor community here. For more on how funding shapes young food brands, see our story on Nopalera’s Series A and our Funding News section. The seed round gives Yasameen Sajady Maazah the capital to scale beyond the first 1,500 stores.
The Minnesota Investors Backing Yasameen Sajady
The investor group is local by design. The seed was led by a group of Minnesota family offices, and the Star Tribune names earlier angels at Tundra Ventures and Groove Capital. The URL of the Star Tribune article also points to other names, including Rich Gammill, Proterra and George Hicks, but the page text reviewed did not describe their roles, so this article does not.
Local backers matter for a food brand in several ways. Family offices tend to be patient, and they often help with introductions to regional grocers. A Minnesota investor base also fits the brand’s positioning as a Minnesota success story.
The tradeoff is that national scale may eventually require institutional capital with different expectations. For now, that mix of local conviction and patient capital strengthens Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
Press and Recognition
The brand has collected strong mentions. The homepage lists logos from Forbes, Food & Wine, The New York Times and Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. It quotes the Times calling the chutney “an excellent slather,” a Food & Wine writer saying it is the anchor of her condiment collection, and a Mpls.St.Paul reviewer saying it is the greatest thing to happen to leftovers since the microwave.
Those are selected quotes from the company’s website, and Food & Wine’s piece is a product pick. Still, coverage from major food outlets is valuable for a small brand, because buyers and shoppers read it. The Times piece dates to 2020, early in the brand’s growth.
Trade coverage has followed the retail milestones, from Nosh to Food Business News, which gives buyers and investors a public record. Recognition is how Yasameen Sajady Maazah earns attention without a large advertising budget.
Where Maazah Stands in the Sauce Aisle
The sauce and dip aisle is crowded and increasingly global. Big condiment companies dominate shelf space, while newer brands compete with flavors from India, the Middle East, Korea and Mexico. Nosh placed Maazah in a wave of founder-led brands sharing cultural flavors with mainstream shoppers.
Maazah’s differentiators are clear. It has an authentic family recipe and an Afghan heritage story that few brands in the aisle can match. It offers a versatile product line that works across meals, which helps repeat use. Its brand voice is playful and memorable. And it has a distribution footprint across natural and mainstream retailers.
The risks are real. Condiment velocity decides whether shelf space stays, and trade spending is costly. Contract manufacturing requires tight quality control. Ingredient costs can squeeze margins. And competing with large brands for attention is hard. In a crowded aisle, Yasameen Sajady Maazah competes on story and flavor.
Risks and Open Questions
A fair look at a growing food brand should name the open questions.
Profitability. The Star Tribune says the company is inching closer, but no financial results are public.
Retail velocity. Store counts show distribution, not how fast products sell through.
Funding structure. Revenue-based financing and a seed round add obligations that depend on sales growth.
Store count timing. Numbers differ by date, from 400-plus doors in early 2024 to 1,500 stores in 2026.
Concentration. A small number of large retailers account for much of the growth, which concentrates risk.
Allergens and labeling. Aioli products contain egg, and lentil dips have their own ingredient lists, so shoppers should check labels.
None of these is unusual for a brand at this stage. Naming them is part of an honest look at Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
Leadership Style and What’s Next
The sisters divide the work by strength. Yasameen runs the business as CEO, while Sheilla leads creative direction. Their public comments combine pride in heritage with plain business language about trust, retail growth and production.
Yasameen has also spoken about building investor trust locally, and the sisters’ decision to leave contract manufacturing and rebrand in 2020 shows a willingness to rebuild when something no longer fits. The company’s stated direction is national retail growth, expanded distribution, scaled production and new products, with a hiring push in supply chain and logistics.
The test will be keeping velocity high as distribution grows, and moving from “inching closer” to profitable. That discipline will define the next chapter of Yasameen Sajady Maazah.
Lessons From the Yasameen Sajady Maazah Journey
The Yasameen Sajady Maazah journey offers five practical lessons for founders.
First, start with a recipe people already love. The green chutney was a proven family favorite before it was a business.
Second, test small. Farmers’ markets gave the sisters direct feedback at little cost.
Third, use education and programs. An MBA case study and Kroger’s supplier accelerator taught retail basics.
Fourth, rebuild when you must. The 2020 rebrand and move to contract manufacturing made scale possible.
Fifth, raise close to home. Local angels and family offices backed the company while it earned retail trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Yasameen Sajady?
Yasameen Sajady is the co-founder and CEO of Maazah, a Minneapolis sauce and dip company she started with her sister Sheilla Sajady.
What is the Yasameen Sajady Maazah story?
It is the story of two first-generation Afghan American sisters who began selling their mother’s green chutney at Minnesota farmers’ markets in 2014 and built it into a brand sold in Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target and Costco.
What is Maazah?
Maazah is a food brand that makes Afghan-inspired sauces and lentil dips, including cilantro chutney, mango chutney, lemon aioli, chili aioli and four lentil dip flavors.
What does Maazah mean?
The company says it is a Farsi word meaning flavor, taste or joy.
How much funding has Maazah raised?
Maazah announced a $2 million seed round in early 2026, led by Minnesota family offices. It also raised about $136,841 from 82 investors through a Wefunder revenue-based financing campaign.
Who invests in Maazah?
Investors include Minnesota family offices that led the seed round, and early angels such as Tundra Ventures and Groove Capital, according to the Star Tribune.
Where can I buy Maazah?
It is sold at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Costco and Target locations, along with online platforms such as Amazon, Instacart and Shipt. Use the store locator on maazah.com.
What are Maazah lentil dips?
They are plant-based dips in basil jalapeño, lemon tahini, roasted red pepper and turmeric ginger flavors.
When did Maazah launch nationally at Whole Foods?
Food Business News reports a national launch at Whole Foods Market in November 2024.
Where is Maazah based?
The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Conclusion
Yasameen Sajady Maazah shows how a family recipe and a patient business plan can become a national food brand. By starting at farmers’ markets, using an MBA project to sharpen the plan, rebranding through the pandemic and winning retailers from Kroger’s accelerator to Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target and Costco, the Sajady sisters built a sauce company that raised a $2 million seed from the Minnesota investors who knew them best. The open questions are whether velocity holds as distribution widens and whether profitability arrives. If it does, Maazah may become a model for sister-founded, heritage-driven food brands.
For more founder journeys in consumer brands, see Freddie Martignetti’s Rosaluna, Jen Phan’s Passionfroot and Dorsia’s Series A on Denote Press, or browse all Founder Stories.
