Diaspora Co. Basiya Ginger

Basiya is an heirloom ginger variety with the floral, warm scent of a buttery gingerbread cookie. It's grown at Vivavan in Madhya Pradesh, a regenerative farm that works in collaboration with the surrounding habitat and communities. Harvested at peak-ripeness, sun-dried and ground, Basiya delivers the sweet and spicy punch of fresh ginger that's perfect for baked goods, marinades, dressings and drinks. 

Don't have fresh ginger on hand? No problem. Use ½ teaspoon ground Basiya ginger for 1 teaspoon finely grated or minced fresh ginger. Ground ginger also adds a warming zing to tagines, lamb meatballs, and of course it's a natural fit for gingerbread, pumpkin pies and other cozy bakes.

Sana Javeri Kadri, founder of Diaspora Co., is changing the way the supply chain works in the spice industry. Her goal is to put money, equity and power back into the hands of the farmers by cutting out the middle man and decolonizing the commodity spice trading system.

Sana grew up in Mumbai, India and moved to America to attend college. After graduating, she began working as the marketing manager for a grocery store in the San Francisco Bay Area. During her time there she realized that the sourcing of particular products, like chocolate and coffee, was becoming more and more transparent to retailers and customers, but that was still not the case with spices. This fueled Sana's desire to bring the spices she grew up with to the American market and create a better, more equitable spice trade model focused on flavor, sustainability, heirloom seeds and empowering farmers.

Sana started her journey with a five-month trip to India, where she learned about the spice industry and begin working with the Indian Institute of Spice Research (a non-profit agricultural research facility that works with farmers to promote sustainable and profitable spice production). Through this institute, she began learning about turmeric cultivation and was also introduced to farmers growing heirloom varietals of the spice. She returned to Oakland and after much hard work launched her first spice stateside: Pragati Single-Origin Heirloom Turmeric.