In 2017, with $2,000 in her pocket, Sana Javeri Kadri bought a one-way ticket to Mumbai, India, and embarked on a journey that would transform not just her life, but an entire industry. What began as an art project focused on the origins of trendy turmeric lattes blossomed into Diaspora Co., a multimillion-dollar business that’s redefining the $5 billion spice industry.
How does the company do this? By paying farmers six times the commodity price and championing heirloom varieties.
Seven years after its launch, Diaspora Co. has paid $2.5 million directly to farmers, while sourcing from 140 farms supporting 3,500 workers and selling 30 different spices through a model that prioritizes both ethics and profitability.
Ahead, explore how this art-major-turned-entrepreneur is disrupting centuries of inequitable trade practices.
Rethinking a history of exploitation
“The spice trade has been unjust for hundreds of years. And 75 years after the British left India, the spice trade still sucks,” Sana explains. This impact of colonialism and exploitation became the catalyst for Sana’s mission to transform the industry from the ground up.
“Starting the business took about seven months of research. I was visiting almost 40 to 50 farms,” Sana says. She personally met and made deals with all of the farming partners that helped bring her vision to life. Sana built equity into the foundation from day one. “A lot of folks, when they’re building a business plan, are thinking, ‘Let me get it profitable’ or ‘Let me get as much top line revenue as possible. And then when I hit certain milestones, I’ll make it more social impact-y,’” Sana notes. “I’ve seen time and time again that that never happens.”
Diaspora’s financial model has farmer equity as a nonnegotiable—paying four to 10 times the commodity price to farm partners. This commitment to uplift the regenerative farms across India and Sri Lanka goes beyond just the farmers to include the entire team. They have established a farmworker fund to ensure that everyone in their supply chain has access to health care, pension plans, and education for their children.
Breaking the chain of the middlemen
The spice trade historically has operated through layers of middlemen between the customer and the farmer’s initial product. Diaspora has systematically dismantled this model by building direct relationships with every single farming partner.
“No contracts, 140 farms, that’s about 3,500 farm workers. And me and my team know almost every single one of those people by name,” Sana says. This dedication to personal connections has transformed how the supply chain functions for Diaspora. Spice traders typically pay farmers after harvest (often at depressed prices), while Diaspora provides financial advances before the harvest. This upfront investment in farmers allows them to focus on producing quality heirloom varieties and is a major shift in how agricultural trade has operated for half a millennium.
The company’s commitment to transparency extends to its customers as well. The brand highlights the hard work of its farming partners through storytelling and educational social media content.
“Starting the business took about seven months of research. I was visiting almost 40 to 50 farms,” Sana says. She personally met and made deals with all of the farming partners that helped bring her vision to life. Sana built equity
Diaspora connects customers directly to the origins of ingredients that historically have been anonymized. They take trips to the farms to highlight the history of the brand’s roots and origins and pay homage to the communities that have cultivated these ingredients for generations.
Championing heirloom varieties and regenerative agriculture
The industrialization of the spice trade hasn’t just exploited farmers—it’s also reduced biodiversity and agricultural heritage. Diaspora has spent years seeking out forgotten heirloom varieties, starting with its signature Pragati turmeric from Andhra Pradesh. Sana describes it as “the most floral bright variety I’d ever seen.”
Building a diverse supply chain takes extraordinary patience. "It took me five years to find all of those 140 farmers that we now source from," Sana says. This stands in stark contrast to the rapid scaling you can expect working with a middleman or agency.
Partnering with farmers directly allows Sana to commit to regenerative practices, helping to reverse environmental damage caused by industrial agriculture. Regenerative farming practices prioritizes soil health and biodiversity while preserving traditional farming knowledge.
It’s a double win. The ethical practices aren’t just better for the people involved—they yield a superior product. "The hope is that it’s better for the land. It’s better for the farmer because we’re paying them better. And it’s way better for the home cook and the chef because they’re getting things that are more delicious," Sana says.
Transforming the consumer experience
After changing the way the supply chain operated for her spices, Sana had to spread the word. Competitor spice brands reflected centuries of disconnection: anonymous products in dull packaging that end up stuck in the back of a cabinet years later. Diaspora has flipped this notion on its head with vibrant branding, continuously inspiring content and food collaborations.
"People tend to buy spices then they have no idea what to do with them and they just languish in your spice cabinet.Most people have spices for five to seven years," Sana says. To combat this, Diaspora focuses on making their products "highly cookable" by providing constant recipe inspiration online, usage ideas, community dinners, and restaurant pop-ups. Adding more of the vibrant visual content to their website’s product pages has dramatically improved engagement and sales conversion rates.
The approach is changing how consumers think about and value spices. Highlighting the freshness, cultural context, and culinary possibilities elevates Diaspora to a whole new level of popularity.
Redefining the growth timeline
"We were not going to be able to go from 5 million to 100 million in five years. We ultimately grow a product that grows in the ground, so I’m growing at the scale of agriculture," Sana explains.
Diaspora rejects the hyper growth expectations to respect the land’s agricultural needs. "I think I’m an example of slow and sustainable, and you can do it scrappily and just keep getting better," Sana reflects.
Emphasizing the importance of slow, ethical growth, Sana began taking on outside investment. After bootstrapping for five and a half profitable years, Diaspora selectively sought investors who understood agricultural timelines. She chose to raise capital exclusively from operator angel investors—CEOs, restaurateurs, and aligned family offices only. Today Diaspora maintains the freedom to grow at a pace that respects both farmers and the land.
Sana Javeri Kadri has created a blueprint for ethical global trade and proved this yields profitable and joyous results. Her company hasn’t just created a more ethical supply chain—it’s begun reshaping how people think about the relationship between producers, companies, and consumers. Catch Sana’s full episode of Shopify Masters and prepare to be inspired. The future of global trade can honor both tradition and innovation while still prioritizing people and the planet alongside profit.
