Our Roots

Proudly taking its name from our founder Tulsidas Wadhwani (aka Mr Wani), Wanis International Foods was founded in 1964 in North London. As part of our original mission we helped the new migrant communities coming to the UK during this era enjoy an authentic taste of home, helping them to stay connected to their roots and cultures.

Mr Wani did this by directly importing, sourcing and retailing foods from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. In the early days getting foods from “back home” was almost impossible and you might have to wait weeks or even months to see the same products on shelf again. Many shopkeepers didn’t know where to go or who to ask to source these foreign products.

Mr Wani was a jovial and friendly character who loved his foods and enjoyed the challenge of bringing a smile to his customers faces when they saw products from their homelands. Going to the airport to collect fresh fruit and veg in the very early mornings, Wanis would open it’s doors at 5am so shop keepers could stock up their vans and return to their shops in time for a 9am opening time, without missing a single hour of trading.

In the early years there were many trials and tribulations, many products did not have barcodes, full ingredients listed or sometimes even labels. Many overseas suppliers didn’t appreciate the standards needed to bring products into the UK as “word-of-mouth” was the standard way of selling back home.

Wanis worked hard to overcome this knowledge gap and in doing so provided foreign exchange to partners overseas.  To these communities back home, we became a key distribution channel to reach the UK diaspora. Mutual trust and co-operation resulted in all parties growing together.

Customers began to rely on Wanis to have products “always in-stock” and we started buying in bulk.  As these communities settled and integrated and the popularity of World Foods has grown, so did we.  In time, our retail operations grew and Wanis spent time and effort to standardize products and packaging that could be wholesaled in the UK.

Today, with over 55 years of experience and knowledge we exclusively service trade customers only.
We distribute UK-wide to supermarkets, wholesalers, independent retailers and Online stores, as well as restaurants, takeaways and caterers of all sizes.

We export to over 30 countries across six continents and, we exclusively represent numerous heritage brands in the UK.

We are on a mission to deliver adventurous foods from around the World to dining tables across the UK and beyond. As part of this we continue to introduce and champion many new products into the UK whilst leading on innovation and growth within our sector.