In September 2026, the regional newspaper Le Pays Briard devoted two articles to Kaathoon: the story of its two founders, and the ambition of a small Seine-et-Marne brand that came home from Berlin with European medals.
Le Pays Briard22 September 2026 · by Vanessa Aspe
Kaathoon : dans une sauce, un exil, une amitié, le goût de toute une vie (“Kaathoon: in one sauce, an exile, a friendship, the taste of a whole life”)
“Kaathoon was my mother’s nickname, given to her by her grandfather. The word carries the idea of a noble woman. I wanted to show that this name was not nothing, that it was powerful.”
The story of how Anfas Jasool, a Sri Lankan refugee who arrived in France in 2023, met Jérôme Nicolet, a surgeon for twenty-one years. A jar of sauce brought to a mutual friend’s house, the recipe of Zanoofa, Anfas’s grandmother, and the idea that a family memory could become a business. The article also covers what the two founders want to do next: open their kitchen to other refugee entrepreneurs who have no access to a professional kitchen to test their products.
De Faremoutiers à Berlin, Kaathoon veut devenir « la meilleure sauce du monde » (“From Faremoutiers to Berlin, Kaathoon wants to become the best sauce in the world”)
“What we are after is flavour. The aim is not to make a sauce that blows your head off, but a product that lets you cook and lift a dish.”
Five sauces entered in five categories at the European Hot Sauce Awards in Berlin, in May 2026, and three medals on the way home: gold for the family recipe in Medium Chili Sauce, gold for the Veggie in Chili Paste, silver for the Ananas Ardent in Freestyle. The article also describes daily life in the workshop, where every jar is filled and labelled by hand, and what comes next: fine grocers in Paris, and online sales.
Published in the print edition only (issue 7782).
Kaathoon in brief
2026
Two gold medals and one silver at the European Hot Sauce Awards in Berlin
16th
In the 2026 world ranking, with a score of 7.67 out of 10
6
Recipes, all built from the sauce handed down by Zanoofa
50 to 200
Jars a day, filled and labelled by hand, by the two of them
