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Bandita Thapa
Founder & sourcing lead
Walks the high valleys each season to meet the families who grow what we sell. Decides what makes the cut.
Our story
Butterfly Ventures began with a simple frustration: the best spices in Nepal were leaving the country in unmarked sacks, their origin erased, their farmers unpaid for the quality they grew.
We named the company for the butterfly because transformation is the whole point — a raw mountain harvest carried carefully, cleaned by hand, and turned into something a kitchen anywhere in the world can trust.
Today we work with cooperatives across Jumla, Ilam and the mid-hills. We harvest in season, mill in small batches, and keep every lot traceable to the valley it came from. Nothing is blended to hide a weak crop. Nothing is rushed.
“Keep the mountain whole — from the valley to the table.”
We buy direct and pay above market, so the people who grow the spice can keep growing it.
Each region’s character stays intact. We never blend away what makes a valley taste like itself.
Scan any pack and meet the cooperative, the altitude and the harvest month behind it.
Process
We buy direct from cooperatives and keep the origin visible from the first conversation.
Hand-picking and moisture checks happen lot by lot so export-grade batches stay traceable.
Small-batch milling preserves aroma and keeps the kitchen reading the current season.
Founder & team
Founder & sourcing lead
Walks the high valleys each season to meet the families who grow what we sell. Decides what makes the cut.
Harvest coordinator
Keeps the cooperative calendar — who is picking what, where, and when it peaks. Our link to the farms in Jumla and Dolpa.
Cleaning floor lead
Runs sorting, winnowing and hand-picking. The reason a Butterfly batch reads as export-grade and not roadside.
Eastern logistics
Moves chilli and cardamom down from Ilam and Taplejung without losing a day of freshness on the road.
Quality & batch records
Logs moisture, origin and lot for every consignment so exporters clear customs on the first try.
Mill & small-batch
Grinds to order, weekly, in small lots — so nothing on a shelf ever tastes of last year.
In their words
The timur arrives whole and it actually tingles. I stopped buying pre-ground the day the first box landed. My momo dip tastes like Jumla now, not like a supermarket.
Nima Lama
Head chef · Gaja Restaurant
Three export shipments, zero lab rejections. The batch records make customs painless. That alone pays for the premium.
Sushila Pradhan
Director · Annapurna Tea & Spice Co.
Our spice wall is the most photographed corner of the shop now. Customers come back specifically for the saffron.
Bibek Shrestha
Owner · Himal Provisions
I cook for my family every night and the difference in the dal is not subtle. A pinch of jimbu and the whole kitchen smells like my grandmother’s.
Manju Adhikari
Home cook · Lalitpur
Locked quarterly pricing tied to the actual harvest means no mid-season surprises. For a distributor, that is everything.
Pemba Dorje
Procurement · Dolma Trading
The dalle is fruity before it is fierce. My chilli oil finally has the smoky sweetness I could never get from market chillies.
Reshma Gurung
Founder · Sano Bites cloud kitchen
Next step
The brand is smaller on purpose: fewer pages, deeper content, and a clearer path from story to product to enquiry.