- The Intention
- The Ingredients
- The Ritual
- The Diaspora Story
Derived from the Hindi word “chaatna,” which means to lick, and quintessential to the street food genre of the same name, Diaspora's mouth-puckering blend is meant to be relished. The 12 single-origin, freshly-harvested spices create a perfect balance of salty, sour, and umami flavors. Sprinkle yours on top of cut fruit, use it to rim a cocktail glass, stir it into your yogurt or seltzer, or add it to your favorite sweet and savory snacks. Sourced from 30 small regenerative family farms across India and Sri Lanka, the spices in this jar have been chosen for their flavor, freshness, and potency. In their commitment to building a more equitable spice trade, Diaspora pays an average 6x premium to their farm partners.
1.94oz
Kesari Amchur, Black Salt, Jodhana Cumin, Nandini Coriander, Surya Salt, Hariyali Fennel, Madhur Jaggery, Hing, Dried Mint
Delicious on cut fruit, to rim a cocktail glass, on a chutney, in your yogurt, seltzer, or as a topping on sweet and savory snacks.
The original intent of colonial conquest of the Indian subcontinent was a desire for domination of the spice trade. 400ish years later, as a young woman born and raised in postcolonial Mumbai, working at the intersection of food and culture, Sana Javeri Kadri was slowly discovering that not much about that system had changed. Farmers made no money, spices changed hands upwards of 10 times before reaching the consumer, and the final spice on your shelf was usually an old, dusty shadow of what it once was.
So in 2016, Sana booked a one way ticket home to Mumbai and signed herself up for 7 months of highly unpaid market research, 40+ farm visits, endless un-answered phone calls, a squishy motorbike ride through rice paddy, and one life-changing meeting with the good folks at the Indian Institute of Spices Research.
A lot of processing of doubts and fears later, 23 year old Sana founded Diaspora Co. in the fall of 2017 with just one spice - Pragati Turmeric - sourced from an equally young and idealistic farm partner - a now dear friend Mr. Prabhu Kasaraneni. But from their very first day, the big, audacious dream was to grow a radically new, decidedly delicious and truly equitable spice trade, to push a broken system into an equal exchange, and to have a lot of fun doing it.
Today, the Diaspora team sources 30 single-origin spices from 150 farms across India and Sri Lanka. They're proud to pay their farm partners an average of 6x above the commodity price. In a system where fair trade is a mere 15% premium, they pay what they believe to be a living wage - an investment in the kind of leadership and land stewardship that will build climate resilience and more delicious food systems.
The Intention
Derived from the Hindi word “chaatna,” which means to lick, and quintessential to the street food genre of the same name, Diaspora's mouth-puckering blend is meant to be relished. The 12 single-origin, freshly-harvested spices create a perfect balance of salty, sour, and umami flavors. Sprinkle yours on top of cut fruit, use it to rim a cocktail glass, stir it into your yogurt or seltzer, or add it to your favorite sweet and savory snacks. Sourced from 30 small regenerative family farms across India and Sri Lanka, the spices in this jar have been chosen for their flavor, freshness, and potency. In their commitment to building a more equitable spice trade, Diaspora pays an average 6x premium to their farm partners.
1.94oz
The Ingredients
Kesari Amchur, Black Salt, Jodhana Cumin, Nandini Coriander, Surya Salt, Hariyali Fennel, Madhur Jaggery, Hing, Dried Mint
The Ritual
Delicious on cut fruit, to rim a cocktail glass, on a chutney, in your yogurt, seltzer, or as a topping on sweet and savory snacks.
The Diaspora Story
The original intent of colonial conquest of the Indian subcontinent was a desire for domination of the spice trade. 400ish years later, as a young woman born and raised in postcolonial Mumbai, working at the intersection of food and culture, Sana Javeri Kadri was slowly discovering that not much about that system had changed. Farmers made no money, spices changed hands upwards of 10 times before reaching the consumer, and the final spice on your shelf was usually an old, dusty shadow of what it once was.
So in 2016, Sana booked a one way ticket home to Mumbai and signed herself up for 7 months of highly unpaid market research, 40+ farm visits, endless un-answered phone calls, a squishy motorbike ride through rice paddy, and one life-changing meeting with the good folks at the Indian Institute of Spices Research.
A lot of processing of doubts and fears later, 23 year old Sana founded Diaspora Co. in the fall of 2017 with just one spice - Pragati Turmeric - sourced from an equally young and idealistic farm partner - a now dear friend Mr. Prabhu Kasaraneni. But from their very first day, the big, audacious dream was to grow a radically new, decidedly delicious and truly equitable spice trade, to push a broken system into an equal exchange, and to have a lot of fun doing it.
Today, the Diaspora team sources 30 single-origin spices from 150 farms across India and Sri Lanka. They're proud to pay their farm partners an average of 6x above the commodity price. In a system where fair trade is a mere 15% premium, they pay what they believe to be a living wage - an investment in the kind of leadership and land stewardship that will build climate resilience and more delicious food systems.