Amid its continued and rapid growth, Spiceology Inc. has mixed in some major changes recently, including an expansion into two downtown Spokane spaces and the launch of a new interactive online feature.

The Spokane-based spice company opened a test kitchen at River Park Square late last month, next to Panda Express in the downtown shopping center's third-floor food court.

Spiceology’s culinary team is using the new space to develop new spice blends, experiment with dish ideas, and train culinary professionals on how to use the company’s products.

The test kitchen also serves as the primary filming location for the brand’s culinary content featured on various social media platforms, in advertisements, and in training videos.

“We really just hadn’t had a place,” says Spiceology CEO Darby McLean. “We were using local restaurants or people’s homes, and it was just time for us to have our own space where we could make some of that magic happen.”

The test kitchen consists primarily of a commercial kitchen space, but it also has a restaurant-like service area.

“We’re kind of transforming some of that to be an area where we can do some of our home-cook content,” McLean says. “It’ll have some things going on back there that make it more like a backdrop where we are able to film some content.”

Eventually, the space may be used for more than just internal operations, although any customer-facing events or features likely wouldn't happen until later this year.

“What we hope is that in addition to just being a place where we can do development and the filming of our content, that there may in the future be opportunities to interact a little with our community and the public,” McLean says.

Though nothing is officially planned, community events could include tastings, pop-up events, or retail opportunities.

Spiceology doesn’t have its own retail store, in part because it doesn’t want to make it more challenging for its partner retailers to sell its products, McLean says. That said, the new space could lead to some retail possibilities.

“I think this space represents an opportunity for us to do that, maybe even just on an occasional basis, like for holiday shopping,” she says.

For now, the primary uses of the test kitchen will center around content creation, culinary training, and innovation.

Coinciding with the opening of the test kitchen, the roughly 80-employee company began leasing five offices and four workstations last month at Fuel Coworking, at 809 W. Main, just across the street from River Park Square.

“It allows our team to be nearby one another,” McLean says. “There’s lots of interaction, obviously, between culinary and marketing, as an example. It’s very convenient.”

Cowles Co. subsidiaries opened the new 20,000-square-foot coworking space in the former downtown Muv Fitness space earlier this year.

Spiceology still has its 45,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Playfair Commerce Park, in Spokane.

“But it doesn’t have offices,” McLean says of the manufacturing plant. “There just wasn’t any place for the front-of-the-house folks to be.”

Office staff, including those from the marketing, design, and finance departments, previously had been working from home full time and are now able to work more of a hybrid model, McLean says.

“People miss being together, and so this was just a perfect opportunity for us to provide a space where people could come,” she says.

Rounding out the recent developments at Spiceology is a new online feature, also referred to as "Test Kitchen," through which the company can engage its customers and allow them to help decide which flavors the company will launch.

Several times a year, Spiceology will post four new test spice blends to its website. Customers can choose to back a new blend by signing up to order a jar.

“It’s almost like crowdsourcing,” McLean says. “Audiences can decide what sounds amazing and buy that jar of spice, and then we’re doing limited release of audience favorites.”

If a new test blend reaches 500 orders by the posted deadline, then backers of that blend will be charged and sent a jar of the new creation.

For example, the four new blends currently posted on the site include Yum Yum Japanese Steakhouse-Inspired Seasoning, Herby Garlic Chile Seasoning, Habanero Tangy Dill Seasoning, and Ancho Lemon Ranch Seasoning. All four blends are priced at $14.99.

As of April 22, the Yum Yum Japanese Steakhouse-Inspired Seasoning had a total of about 425 orders with 25 days left to go.

If it reaches 500 orders in that timeline, customers will be charged and sent a jar of the new blend. More than one of the four new blends can reach the goal and be sent out to customers.

If a blend reaches its goal, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be permanently added to Spiceology’s product line. It could be sent out as a limited-release blend, McLean explains.

“I think that there’s some value to the scarcity or the special quality to something that’s a limited release,” she says.

If a blend doesn’t reach the goal, customers won’t be charged, and the blend won’t be sent out.

The online feature provides Spiceology with valuable insight into customer preferences, McLean says.

“What it does give us is really good feedback and engagement from the people who love Spiceology,” says McLean. “And that will obviously create decision making.”

The test blends for the new online feature will be developed at the new test kitchen at River Park Square.

Chef Tony Reed, executive director of culinary innovation at Spiceology, runs the test kitchen. Reed is the company’s longest-standing employee and a previous Journal of Business Rising Star.

The recent changes at Spiceology come amid continued company growth.

McLean declines to disclose specific annual revenues but says Spiceology has grown every year since its inception in 2013.

Since 2019, the company’s compound annual growth rate is 43%, she says.

Last year, Spiceology was named to Inc. business magazine’s annual list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the U.S.

“We’re excited to begin to interact and have more of a presence in our community,” McLean says.