CEO Daily | Fortune Million-dollar spices

Thursday, July 3, 2025

This founder has spent a decade building a multi-million-dollar spice company that is almost profitable. She still doesn’t want your venture capital dollars—at least not for now

I reached out to founder Sana Javeri Kadri earlier this week, because I needed some answers. 

It’s summertime here in Arkansas, I just bought a new grill, and I have been putting Diaspora Co. spices on every piece of meat and vegetable that I can get my hands on. Diaspora’s Byadgi chilli, Jodhana cumin, and peni miris cinnamon have quickly become staples in my spice drawer. My boyfriend has requested I bring my black pepper (yes, black pepper!) to his house when we cook together, because nothing you can buy at the grocery store tastes anything like it. 

How is it that these spices are so much more vibrant than anything I’ve tasted before—and how did Kadri build a multi-million business getting them from farmers in South Asia into the hands of people like me? This is what I had to know, and yesterday, Kadri thankfully gave me some answers.

The majority of spices grown around the world are indigenous to South Asia. Seeds can be extracted and transported elsewhere—and have been since Europeans took over the spice trade—but the different soil, temperatures, and weather dramatically change the flavor. If you want the warm, earthy, slightly bitter taste of turmeric in its original form, you need to get it from India. Nutmeg grown in India is fruity, floral, and almost light. In Indonesia, it is more intense, and has almost a tobacco flavor, Kadri tells me.

Where you grow spices—and the way you grow them—are critical to the flavors that end up in your spice drawer. It all starts with the farms and, of course, the farmers. Kadri has built her business around that—how much money farmers need to grow things the absolute best way, and how much money she will accept from investors to make sure it stays that way.

We read so much about $300 million compensation packages these days that I hope this serves as a good reminder that entrepreneurialism and startup funding can come in all shapes and forms, and, you might say, flavors. Read more about the Kadri, Diaspora Company, and turmeric and garlic farms in my full piece here.

The next Term Sheet will be in your inbox on Monday. Happy Fourth of July!

Jessica Mathews
X: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com
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