The founder built a multi-million dollar spice company. This is how she did it

Javeli Kadri, from Mumbai, was not a huge fan of her own. Haldi Doodh, Or turmeric milk, her grandmother made for her for the child. A drink made in India for centuries. However, the sight of it in San Francisco was evidence of how popular the spice was due to its anti-inflammatory health benefits. This was one of the top food searches Google That year, and the Americans began to add it to everything – their smoothies, salad dressings, soups, and their milk to the light daa of Javeli Kadri. But Javeri Kadri was working on a farm throughout the university and was at Bi-Rite, a high-end grocery store in San Francisco, and thought it could taste pretty good if people were trying to add it to milk anyway.

In February 2017, Javeri Kadri decided to join the spice business. She returned to India and began cold calls for the agricultural agency. She finally got an introduction to Prabhu Kasaraneni, a fourth-generation turmeric farmer who taught her organic farming techniques. YouTube and whatsapp. This was Javeri Kadri’s first partnership with Indian multi-generational farmers, and the beginning of her startup and obsession since Javeri Kadri began her diaspora in 2017, initially selling turmeric only from Kasaraneni farms, expanding 30 spices over 140 farms. She now likes retail customers Amazonand is on track to achieve profitability by the end of 2025. Javeri Kadri says the business is currently generating “mid-million seconds” in annual revenue.

Diaspora Co.

I wanted some answers this week so I contacted Javeli Kadri this week. It’s just a summer, I just bought a new grill and I put Diaspora spices in every meat and vegetables I can get. Diaspora byadgi chili peppers, jordanacumin, and penimilis cinnamon are the staples of my spice drawer. My boyfriend cannot buy it at the grocery store, so when we cook together I requested to bring a diaspora black pepper (yes, black pepper!) to his house.

As Javeri Kadri explains, that’s why everything tastes so different. Most of the spices grown all over the world are indigenous in South Asia. Seeds can be extracted and transported elsewhere – and because Europeans take over the trade in spices, different soils, temperatures and weather dramatically change the flavor. If you want the warm, earthy, slightly bitter turmeric flavor of turmeric in its original form, you need to get it from Javeri Kadri’s hometown. Nutmeg, grown in India, is fruity, floral and almost light. In Indonesia, it’s more intense and has a bit of tobacco flavour, she says.

Javeri Kadri learned early on how he grows and cultivates spices, which is important for the flavors that have become a drawer of the spices. It all starts with the farms, and of course the farmers.

Javeri Kadri smirks as she talks about the 140 farmers she currently works for. Like Kasaraneni and his turmeric farm. Or, on a 9-hour trip through the Himalayas mountains, a garlic farm that grows pahadi pink garlic, there is no electricity for six months due to deep snow. During the first few years of the business, Javeri Kadri spent four to six months in India each year. Of the 23 employees of the Diaspora, 188 are permanently based.

Javeri Kadri Bootstrapped Diaspora Co. For the first five years it was profitable. But in her fifth year, she said she needed to get a loan to give the farmers progress. That way they could buy and process the equipment they needed to grow large amounts of spices. She would raise a $1 million seed round from a small group of angel investors, and in 2024 she collected a $1.5 million seed round from 75 angel investors, including Tyler Malek, a salt and straw ice cream. Ellen Bennett, who runs Hedley and Bennett. Mina Harris, Nie of Kamala Harris, runs an incredible venture. And while Ben Jacobsen, who runs Jacobsen Salt Co., has an advisory board, he has not given up on voting rights, with about 35% of the company’s capital set aside for farmers, company advisors and employees.

Javeri Kadri says he is careful to raise funds from angels rather than institutional investors, as he doesn’t want to be pushed into the timeline of any kind of exit. “Currently, in the world of grocery venture capital, you often sell large profitable products and ultimately want to make a profit. I can’t do that for my farm partners. That’s a very short-term outlook. I want my kids to inherit family business and thrive.

Diaspora Co.

If she can grow faster in her diaspora, Javeli Kadri will take VC dollars, she says. But for now, control over how she runs her business and what she can pay for farmers is her priority. In fact, data show that on average Indian farmers equal around $2,381 per year in US dollars. Javeri Kadri said her farm partners averaged $26,000 a year in 2023.

Javeri Kadri’s passion and excitement are evident when he is talking about the diaspora. “When we started working with them, I just feel it’s really very desperate and troubling,” Javeri Kadri says, speaking of the farmers. “And over the years we have really moved to a place of peace and trust. I think this is incredible. Well, I can give this business to my kids and this land, and it’s a gift, not a burden.”

Javeri Kadri says her business may not be as sexy as a startup that has raised more capital. She has no money for flashy billboard ads or flashy parties. “But it gives us freedom and complete control. I think it’s more valuable in the long run,” she says.

Corrected, July 3, 2025: Previous versions of this article did not include the full name of Sana Javeri Kadri, misinterpreting the number of employees based in India.