Pre-order Sirarakhong Chilli Powder
Proudly grown by a cooperative of farmers in Sirarakhong, these chillies carry a legend: villagers’ ancestors discovered these long, vibrant chillies growing wild on a hunting trip. They brought them home, and the Sirarakhong Hathei have since become a staple in their daily cuisine. Despite attempts by nearby villages to grow them, only the special terroir of Sirarakhong produces the very best, making these chillies truly one of a kind. Experience the rich tradition and unparalleled flavor of Sirarakhong Chilli in your kitchen today.
Hill Wild
Founding Story
Hi there, I’m Zeinorin. I moved away from my home in Manipur in search of better opportunities. While living away, I tried to recreate my mom’s healing broth many times, buying the same ingredients from the market, but it never tasted the same, not even close. During a summer vacation, I went home and conducted extensive research, comparing the ingredients. The taste, flavor, and even aroma were strikingly different. I realized it was the rich biodiversity of our Naga Indigenous people residing within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the most biologically significant regions on the planet, that gave my mom’s broth its distinct taste.
My people produce food by nurturing the land. This realization inspired me to start my business, Hill Wild, which benefits farmers economically, as many Indigenous farmers do not receive fair compensation. By doing this, we can preserve and restore biodiversity, help heal the planet, and share the joy of food and flavor with people around the world.
My people produce food by nurturing the land. This realization inspired me to start my business, Hill Wild, which benefits farmers economically, as many Indigenous farmers do not receive fair compensation. By doing this, we can preserve and restore biodiversity, help heal the planet, and share the joy of food and flavor with people around the world.
Inspired by our Naga heritage and the enduring recipes of our grandmothers, who have survived migration, war, and the challenges of nurturing entire families, villages, clans, tribes, and communities. Some of our grandmothers even reached 100 years old, thriving on a diverse diet of foraged, homegrown, and seasonal foods. Their unique concoctions of condiments, recipes, and seasonings have been lovingly passed down through generations as a legacy. Every product we create is a heartfelt recreation of this rich heritage, love, and emotion. We aim to bring the flavours and traditions of our ancestors into the modern world, allowing you to enjoy, savour, and share them no matter where you are or what you are eating.
Who we are:
Our Mission
Connect people around the world to a sustainable food which is healthy, nutritional, full of flavor derived from Indigenous Peoples Food System who produces food sustainably without harming the planet.
Who we are:
Our Vision
Transform the lives of Indigenous People by revolutionizing the way food is sourced, processed, and delivered to the consumers.
Who we are:
Our Purpose
Preserve and restore the biodiversity to build strong food systems.
The Indigenous farmers in Northeast India are the pioneers of sustainable food production, even if their methods have not always been recognized by today’s standards. Here is how we are making a difference with our commitment.
Our Commitment to Sustainability:
Restoring Biodiversity
We are in collaboration with farming villages to restore biodiversity. Currently we are rewilding 20 hectares of barren land in Teinem village.
Our Commitment to Sustainability:
Income Generation
We generate three sources of income for every farmer through our multi-cropping model. By cultivating vegetables, our ingredients, and fruit trees, farmers can increase their income by selling to us and local markets, helping to break the cycle of poverty.
Our Commitment to Sustainability:
Empowering Communities
We are committed to provide skill training on sustainable agricultural practices. This not only enhances their livelihoods but also preserves the rich biodiversity of the region.
Our Sourcing
We are committed to creating a more transparent, sustainable, and efficient food supply chain. By simplifying the process, we aim to empower our partner farmers. Working directly with them, we ensure each product meets the highest quality standards. Our vertical model eliminates many traditional supply chain intermediaries—such as local brokers and distributors allowing us to reduce unnecessary markups. This approach enables us to offer competitive pricing to our customers while redirecting profits to the Indigenous farmers who produce our foods.
Traditional Supply Chains
VS
Hill Wild Supply Chains
Ingredients Sourcing Map
Ginger
Teinem, Manipur
Lemon
Kachai, Manipur
Garlic
Talui, Manipur
Soyabean
Somdal, Manipur
Naga King Chilli
Tamenglong, Manipur
Wild Sumac
Tusom, Manipur
Sirarakhong Chilli
Sirarakhong, Manipur
Michinga
Tuensang, Nagaland
Naga Red Chilli
Tuensang, Nagaland
Sesame
Chizami, Nagaland
Ingredients Sourcing Map
Ginger
Teinem, Manipur
Lemon
Kachai, Manipur
Garlic
Talui, Manipur
Soyabean
Somdal, Manipur
Naga King Chilli
Tamenglong, Manipur
Wild Sumac
Tusom, Manipur
Sirarakhong Chilli
Sirarakhong, Manipur
Michinga
Tuensang, Nagaland
Naga Red Chilli
Tuensang, Nagaland
Sesame
Chizami, Nagaland
Our Guiding Values
Value of Reciprocity
We are Inspired by Indigenous Peoples’ value of reciprocity with nature and community, to sustain what sustains us. In honoring that, we collaborate with farming communities in rewilding their barren lands so that we also continue getting good flavor from mother earth. If we do not nurture, it is too selfish of us to receive the best from her.
Value of Community
Community means an Identity for us. It is coming together for ceremony, for mourning, for celebration, for gratitude, for harvest, for support, for everything. Either in multi-cropping our crops, creating impact in the farming community, and sharing to our consumer’s community, we are driven by the value everyone holds to co-create together and want to reflect such identity in our business.
Value of Ancestral Knowledge
As young Indigenous people, we are the last transmitter of our ancestral knowledge, bearing the responsibility to preserve and pass it down to the next generation. This wisdom, which enabled our ancestors to live sustainably for millennia, is crucial for our future.
We honour the knowledge of traditional food preservation techniques that maintain the integrity of food. Our commitment to these practices is reflected in our products, demonstrating to the world how food can be processed without harmful ingredients that can negatively impact our health over time.
Our Ingredients
All our ingredients are sourced from the Naga Indigenous people scattered throughout the Northeast of India and Myanmar, known as the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the most biologically significant regions on the planet. You could source the same ingredients elsewhere, but they would never taste the same. Our ingredients benefit from a unique microclimate that enhances their deep, rich flavours, a result of protecting the land, the people, and their ancestral knowledge. However, our biodiversity is under threat due to habitat loss, overexploitation, hydrological development, pollution, and climate change. To produce our exceptional products, we must also commit to restoration. That is our promise: to source our ingredients sustainably, we ensure the preservation and restoration of our precious biodiversity.
Sirarakhong Chilli
Talui Garlic
Tusom Wild Sumac
Perilla
The Naga Supper Club
We want you to experience an authentic Naga meal, savoring all the nuances of flavor from spices and cooking techniques to fermentation, dried, or smoked ingredients. We host our supper clubs in the US and India to get to know you and share the joy of our food. Let us know where you’d like us to host by writing to [email protected]
Hill Wild is Worth Discovering More
Join our community to discover stories from our grandmothers, farmers, recipes, product launch, sales and how we are healing the planet. Come dive deeper into a new world of flavor.
