An Ottawa entrepreneur is preparing to rebrand her seasoning company after receiving a legal warning from lawyers representing the British pop group Spice Girls.
Lily Bond started the business when she was just 13 years old, selling homemade taco seasoning at local farmers’ markets. The goal at the time was simple. She wanted to make enough money to buy a laptop for school, she told CBC.
What began as a small market project gradually evolved into a growing business. Bond’s brand, Spyce Girlz, expanded from its original taco seasoning to a lineup of blends that now includes Montreal steak spice, Greek seasoning and other mixes. The products eventually made their way onto grocery shelves across Ontario, including retailers such as Farm Boy and Longo’s.
The name of the company traces back to those early market days. Bond and her mother often worked the booth together, and regular customers began jokingly referring to them as the “spice girls.” The nickname stuck, and Bond later adopted the stylized brand name Spyce Girlz.
Nearly a decade after launching the business, however, the name has become the source of a legal dispute.
Lawyers representing the Spice Girls recently contacted Bond with concerns that the name of her seasoning brand could create confusion with the internationally known pop group and potentially infringe on their trademark.
Bond had secured a Canadian trademark for Spyce Girlz in 2023, but defending the name quickly became overwhelming while also running the business and studying business management at the University of Ottawa, she told CBC.
Rather than continue the dispute, Bond has decided to move forward with a rebrand. The change will require replacing thousands of packages that still carry the Spyce Girlz name.
While the branding may change, the business itself continues to grow, supported by customers who first discovered the seasonings at Ottawa’s farmers’ markets.
