Single mum who started business from her kitchen table has launched product to hundreds of Spar and Co-op stores

An entrepreneur from Worsley who started a business from her kitchen table has taken her product to hundreds of Spar and Co-op stores across the country and says she is "ultra proud of the achievement."

The single mother-of-two Shadia Al Hili, launched Cuzena - the first company to introduce Ful Madamous, a traditional Middle Eastern broad bean dish - to the British market in a ready made format, in 2018 but was rocked by the pandemic.

She has now launched a houmous product in a chip and dip format to 300 Spar shops and 100 Co-op stores in Central England - with an intention of increasing this to 1100 stores. The product is also on sale in Spar at Manchester Airport, Bents Garden Centre in Warrington and independent stores in Didsbury.

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The break comes after Shadia's original hopes of getting her Ful Madamous dish in major high street food retailers were dashed by the Covid-19 outbreak. Shadia, mum to daughter Zena, 17, and son, Eilsel, 25, grew up in Salford with her Moroccan and Yemeni parents.

Her late father, Ali Abdulla, introduced her to Ful Madamous when she was five years old. She said "It was my dad's idea of beans on toast. We would have Ful Madamous on bread for breakfast or an early snack. He would make it for us when we were children because he liked it so much. It is a food that gives the human body everything it needs and he saw it as a healthy option to feed his kids'.'

Shadia was 12 years old when she started making Ful Madamous with her dad and when she moved out at 18 she started making it herself using his recipe. After deciding to start making the product professionally Shadia says she got a listing in stores such