Turmeric trials: DiasporaCo hopes for a yellow brick road to India

India exported $236 million worth of turmeric last year. And most of it was the highest quality of turmeric produced in the country, reserved for exports. US-based DiasporaCo, which has been dipping into India’s export pool, now wants to bring high-quality turmeric into Indian kitchens

For a country obsessed with 'haldi', a lot of the yellow powder that makes its way into Indian kitchens is sub-standard

DiasporaCo sold 10 tonnes worth turmeric in the US, sourced directly from Indian farmers. It now wants to sell in India

But Indian markets are price sensitive. And DiasporaCo is currently selling turmeric in the US at almost 60X the price in India

Even to enter India’s niche markets—say a Nature’s Basket or Reliance Fresh—the company will have to sort out pricing

Turmeric or haldi is an essential ingredient in most Indian cooking. And now, the Indian diaspora is taking it to foreign markets.

And they’re lapping it up.

In 2017, Sana Javeri Kadri spotted an opportunity and used her $2,000 tax refund to start the aptly named DiasporaCo—a spice company serving a largely American clientele. The brand’s prodigal product is the single origin ‘Pragati’ turmeric, organically-grown in Andhra Pradesh, sold online and at hip locations in the US, like Berkeley’s Third Culture Bakery.

With a roster of four farmers today who also supply other spices like chili and cardamom, DiasporaCo is developing ties with 15 more, carefully testing their crops for pesticides.

AUTHOR

Sindhuri Nandhakumar

Sindhuri Nandhakumar is a freelance journalist and Erasmus Mundus scholar. Past experiences include working as a reporter from The Hindu's Chennai bureau.

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