Product Update

Is Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian Still in Business? (2026 Update)

Is Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian today.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 28 February 20266 min read

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Vini and Bal Aujla made Dragons' Den history as the first British Asian couple to secure investment on the show, pitching their chilled rustic Indian curry sauces. Whether the business is still trading today, however, is genuinely difficult to confirm.

The Short Answer

This one sits in a grey area. The brand's social media accounts, on Facebook, X and Instagram, still exist, but we found no confirmed evidence of current retail listings or recent activity from 2024 through 2026. The trail is not clearly dead, but it is not clearly alive either.

We would rather flag that honestly than claim a confident answer either way. If you are hoping to find these sauces on a shelf today, treat that as unconfirmed rather than likely.

The Dragons' Den Pitch

Vini and Bal Aujla appeared in series 11, episode 9, pitching Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian in the Food & Drink category. Their product was a range of chilled, fresh cook-in Indian curry sauces made with Punjabi spice blends, positioned as an authentic alternative to the jarred, shelf-stable sauces dominating supermarket aisles.

They asked for 50,000 pounds in exchange for 30 percent of the business, a solid ask for a food brand with a genuine point of difference in a crowded category.

The Deal That Got Done

Piers Linney backed the pitch, investing the full 50,000 pounds asked for in exchange for the 30 percent equity on the table. It was a clean deal on the terms as pitched.

Landing a dragon behind a chilled food product is a meaningful vote of confidence, chilled goods carry more logistical complexity and retailer negotiation than shelf-stable products, so backers need to believe in both the product and the founders' ability to manage that complexity.

What Happened After the Deal

In the period following the investment, the sauces secured a nationwide listing in Sainsbury's, appearing in around 300 stores in the fresh meat aisle under flavours including Makani, Shahi, Jeera and Tharka. That is a real retail win for a small chilled food brand and represented the high point we could confirm.

Beyond that period, the public record thins considerably. The brand's social accounts remain visible but show limited recent activity, and we could not find a current, active retail listing to confirm the sauces are still on sale today. That is different from confirming the business has closed, it may simply have scaled back or moved to a smaller distribution footprint that is harder to track from the outside.

Why Chilled Food Brands Are Hard to Sustain

Chilled food is one of the toughest categories for a small brand to hold onto long term. Unlike a shelf-stable jar of sauce, chilled products have a short shelf life, demanding cold-chain logistics and tight retailer relationships, and supermarkets regularly review and drop smaller supplier ranges when category space gets reallocated to bigger brands or private label.

A nationwide Sainsbury's listing was a genuine achievement for a small couple-run business, but holding onto that kind of listing year after year, against constant retailer range reviews, is a different and harder challenge than winning it in the first place. That may explain the thinner public trail in more recent years without necessarily meaning the business has closed outright.

How We Would Update This Page

If Vini and Bal Aujla, or a current retailer, can confirm the sauces are still being made and sold today, we would update this page immediately with that evidence and a clear yes. Equally, confirmation of the company's dissolution would let us give a clear no rather than sitting on the fence.

Until then, the fairest thing we can do is describe exactly what the record shows: a confirmed nationwide supermarket listing at one point, an active-looking but quiet social media presence now, and no current retail evidence either way. That is a more honest answer than forcing a confident verdict the evidence does not support.

Where Things Stand Now

Here is the recap. Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian pitched in series 11 with chilled curry sauces, asked for 50,000 pounds for 30 percent, and got it from Piers Linney.

Today the current trading status is genuinely unclear. The brand had a confirmed run in major supermarkets after the deal, but we cannot confidently say whether it is still selling today. If you have seen these sauces on a shelf recently, that would settle it, but based on what is publicly available now, the honest answer is uncertain.

Where to buy Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian

Still selling as of 28 February 2026. Check today's price and availability.

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See the full Vini&Bal's Rustic Indian deal breakdown and term sheet →