I think we can all agree that 2024 really just flew by. Between working on the Diaspora Cookbook, hopping on from the West Coast to Mumbai and back, and walking through the aisles of Whole Foods to spot our bright tins, the year has somehow, unbelievably gone by. SO MANY big Diaspora things happened in 2024, and I’ve done my best to recap 16 of those moments for you below! Thank you for being the fantastic community that y’all are, literally none of this would be possible without your stubborn (and very welcome) insistence for only the best quality ethically-sourced pantry ingredients. Alright, let’s rewind!
- Cookbook travels🧳: Started the year off travelling for 10 weeks to 35 farm kitchens across 11 states in India and Sri Lanka with Asha (recipe developer) and Melati (photographer) for The Diaspora Cookbook—truly the trip of a lifetime! I can’t wait for y’all to start cooking through this book once it’s finally out!
- Popcorn Masala🍿: We launched Popcorn Masala early last year—a delicious blend of nutritional yeast, garlic, turmeric, Sirārakhong Hāthei Chilli and a touch of Chaat Masala takes your popcorn to the next level. It’s my fave quick office snack and very quickly became our bestseller at Whole Foods Market soon after! It’s finally coming back in stock next week!
- Tandoori 2.0🍗 We finally cracked the code for our Tandoori Masala! The secret to our bright red Tandoori 2.0 isn’t copious amounts of chemical-filled food coloring, but beautiful fuchsia cockscomb flowers or mawal, which we learned about on a sourcing trip to Kashmir, where it is used to impart a deep red color to the region’s delicious, rich Rogan Josh. It’s never easy to go back to the drawing board for big ideas but we were committed to doing it for a better product, and I’m so glad we did!
- The Hella Spicy Tote Bag🌶️ Our deep green Hella Spicy Tote Bag, the sequel to our much-loved OG Market Tote, was the result of a highly contested Instagram debate. All of you had sooo many opinions and we love that! The fact that we made it in community with y’all just makes it so much more special.
- Bye bye Masala Dabba👋🥹 2024 was also the year we said goodbye to our beautiful, handspun brass Masala Dabba. As you scale a company, hard decisions are par for the course and this was one of them. It was time for Diaspora Co. to be completely spice-focused.
- Hello Sun Beam: Sarah Hussaini of Not Work Related made us the most incredible mugs inspired by our childhood cups of Haldi Doodh in the winter sun.
- Eater-approved, baby✅: “Diaspora Co.’s pumpkin spice blend makes the world’s best pumpkin spice lattes,” read an Eater article in October this year. Left us beaming with pride!
- Our first Collab Masalas🫂: For the very first time, we launched masalas in collaboration with our community —first was food and culture storyteller Nadir Nahdi’s Hawaij Masala and then bestselling cookbook author Nik Sharma’s Achari Masala! Both blends are incredibly versatile and made to become well-used staples in your pantry.
- Tins across ALL Whole Foods NorCal locations📍: Probably my biggest pinch-me moment in 2024 was walking into my local Whole Foods in Berkeley with my parents and running through the pantry aisle to find our bright lil’ Diaspora Co spice tins. So joyous, so emotional!
- SERVED SO MANY OF YOU CHAI🫖 at Elaichi Co. in Berkeley, Whole Foods demos, the Kermit Lynch Holiday Market in SF, and more!
- Our pop-up at Miel Bakery in London 🥐, however,was probably our most special one last year, with over 1,000 of you showing up and how! So many cups of chai, cookies, spiced bakes and most importantly…
- …Our official UK launch with Natoora!!! 🇬🇧 You can find us in their stores, on their app, and via their online shop!
- We got our spices out there🌶️ in soo many shapes and forms in 2024– Pumpkin spice waffle cones with Salt & Straw, Gulab Jamun Syrup with Transcendence Coffee, Apricot Chilli Saffron Jam with Saba Jam, and a Pumpkin Spice SuperLatte with Clevr!
- Our Biggest Black Friday EVER🛍️meant that we could pay all our farm partners advances before the spring harvest and invest back in this spice biz! Thank you for supporting us!
- Shot and wrote the Diaspora Cookbook🧑🍳over many months in our Berkeley office with Melati and Asha. The elation when we finally turned in our manuscript and finishing shooting 115 recipes truly cannot be described.
- AND LASTLY, our team got stronger💪: We welcomed 7 new members to our team, said goodbye to our sweet Berkeley office and opened our big Mumbai office, and celebrated 1.5 years of our Portland warehouse! We’re now 23 people strong!
Onwards and upwards! We have so much in store but as you know, we’re community-grown and would love to know how to serve y’all better. Tell us what you’d like to see from us this year! You can reply to this email or DM us on Instagram—we’re all ears!
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Diaspora Co. 6631 Saroni Drive Oakland, California 94611 |
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