Every year on Small Business Saturday, Sana sends out a community gift guide. This was sent to our weekly newsletter subscribers on November 30th 2024. 

I can't quite believe that this is my 7th Small Business Saturday gift guide! The little turmeric art project that began with just me taking orders via Instagram DM is now a 28 person team stretching from Mumbai, India to Portland, Oregon dedicated to bringing fresh, beautiful spices from 150 family farms to all of you and I still get goosebumps about it all. This job continues to be the honor of a lifetime and none of us take that privilege lightly. As of a couple months ago, this community spice biz has officially paid $2.5 million dollars directly to small, regenerative family farms across India and Sri Lanka - that's bigger than I ever dared to dream and it continues to feel like we're only just getting started! 

Last year’s gift guide was mammoth (but also pretty excellent, if I may) so I've trimmed this year's list to a tight 12 recs. As always from indie, values-aligned businesses like us :)

Without further ado: 

1. I have to begin with the in-house recs! Our entire spice selection is flying right now as y'all cook up a storm - and we're restocking as fast as we can to keep up! Personally, I always lean towards gifting folks Kashmiri Saffron, Aranya Black Pepper and Kaveri Vanilla - spices that feel special and luxurious to gift, but also really demonstrate the Diaspora difference of flavor and freshness the very second you open them! 
2. The undisputed HIT of the 2023 guide was Sarah Hussaini's pottery brand Not Work Related, specifically her highly detailed glazed coffee mugs. So this year, we collaborated with Sarah on the most sunshine-y glorious mug of our dreams. We only have a handful left so get 'em while you can! 
3. FRUIT! This year, I signed up for a weekly Fruitqueen subscription box and it's been an abundance of joy. Currently they source from Northern California's best fruit farms and therefore only deliver within the Bay Area. If you're based elsewhere, I can't recommend the seasonal boxes from Rincon Tropics and Frog Hollow Farm highly enough! 
4. Every December, I splurge on a wheel of Jasper Hill's Harbison - an exquisite bloomy rind brie-style cheese and eat it as a meal with fancy crackers, anchovies and a nice glass of wine. This year, I'm going wild with their entire cheese tasting box. Yay for delicious, small batch Vermont cheese! 
5. There has never been a better time to buy beautiful Palestinian olive oil from Bilal's family and village, nor Canaan's fresh, sustainably sourced Palestinian Za'atar. And if you haven't yet watched Jumana Manna's 2022 film Foragers, it's a great companion film to this particular present. 
6. Surmeyi makes my favorite earrings, rings and hand accessories. Manasvi's gift for complex, rich storytelling and stunning design are unmatched. 
7. I was having a hard time finding progressive, diverse South Asian children's books so I polled our IG community and was able to compile this incredible collection that I've been gifting and reading to all the littles in my life :) 
8. Rachel of Green House Bakery is a powerhouse and a Bay Area pastry legend. She recently released a super detailed online class for hand-laminated croissants that I'll be gifting to my fave nerdy baker friends, paired with our Baraka Cardamom, Peni Miris Cinnamon and Anamalai Nutmeg! 
9. I haven't been drinking alcohol this year and it's been a really wonderful pause. Given that, my New Year's Eve plan involves popping open a N/A bottle of Ghia's Le Fizz paired with Big Pearl's thoughtfully sourced caviar and some fancy potato chips. 
10. My go-to host thank you present is fancy (read as: sustainably grown, impeccably roasted, BIPOC owned, nice packaging) coffee beans which means I find myself buying a LOT of Port of Mokha and I think you should too. 
11. These mithai shaped candles were my go-to Diwali present this year but they look ADORABLE all year round! Why should Italian food candles have all the fun! 

Alright, that's all for this year. I hope you have a wonderful weekend of feeling loved, eating great food, and taking care of yourselves,