– Spice strategy. The best journalism often comes from topics that writers are personally passionate about—an obsession they have, or a question they can’t stop thinking about. That’s what happened for my colleague Jessica Mathews and her new Fortune story about Diaspora Co.
The 8-year-old startup now pulling in “mid-millions” per year sells high-quality spices sourced from 140 farms. Founder Sana Javeri Kadri started with turmeric, after noting its growing popularity in the U.S., and has expanded to black pepper, cardamom, spice blends, and more. Among foodies and those who care about high-quality ingredients, the brand is incredibly popular.
Jessica reached out to Javeri Kadri because she wanted to know, essentially, why and how her spices taste so good. The founder told her that most spices are indigenous to South Asia, and taste different when grown there—even compared to the same seeds, extracted and planted elsewhere.
Diaspora Co. was bootstrapped for five years, before Javeri Kadri raised a $1 million pre-seed round and then a 2024 $1.5 million seed round from a whopping 75 angel investors, from Meena Harris to the founder of Salt & Straw ice cream—a strategy that helped her set aside 35% of the company’s equity for farmers and employees.
“With the grocery venture capital world right now, you’re often selling an unprofitable product at scale and hoping that it’ll eventually become profitable,” she told Jessica. “I can’t do that for my farm partners—that’s a very short-term outlook. I want their kids to inherit their family business, and the family business to be thriving. I want our farmers to be happy,” she says.
Read the full story here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
-BBB. President Trump signed his domestic spending bill into law in a Fourth of July ceremony, after the House narrowly passed the bill with a 218-214 vote on Thursday afternoon. Two Republican members joined the House Democrats in opposing the bill. The legislation will increase spending on immigration enforcement while making cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and clean energy funding. CBS News
- Tragedy in Texas. Ten girls and one counselor are currently missing from Camp Mystic, a storied Christian girls’ summer camp in Texas, amid severe flooding. The storms have ravaged central Texas and have killed at least 80 people. New York Times
- Suriname election. The parliament of Suriname backed Jennifer Simons as the country’s first woman president. Simons leads the country’s National Democratic Party, which beat out President Chan Santokhi’s incumbent party in the most recent general election. Her inauguration is set for July 16. Reuters
- A potential trans ban. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up two cases regarding a ban on transgender women and girls from competing on their school’s female athletic teams. Idaho and West Virginia are currently appealing lower-court rulings that block their bans from taking place. Arguments for the case will likely take place in the fall, with a decision expected by June 2026. Politico
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Vistra, an operational and administrative business platform, appointed Kim Jenkins as CEO. She previously served as the COO of the company.
Parity, a platform for professional women athlete partnerships, announced the appointment of Dr. Risa Isard as director of research and insights. She most recently served as a professor of sports management at the University of Connecticut.
ON MY RADAR
Korean internet giant Kakao teams with OpenAI to jumpstart growth Forbes
Essence Fest leads a summer of events for Black entrepreneurs galvanized by economic uncertainty CNBC
The non-exoneration of Diddy The Atlantic
PARTING WORDS
“Show up as your authentic self.”
— Makeup mogul Charlotte Tilbury on the advice she would give her younger self
