Ethical sourcing
We partner directly with smallholder farmers and women-led cooperatives across Sub-Saharan Africa, providing reliable markets and training in sustainable, regenerative farming.
Our story · Farm to cup
Nature’s healing gifts, from farm to family.
Akshar Herbs and Spices is a minority women-owned family enterprise connecting the farmers who grow nature's wellness with the families who need it.
- Owned
- Minority women-owned family enterprise
- Origin
- Smallholder farms across Sub-Saharan Africa
- Made
- Small-batch · FDA-compliant · New York, USA
Why we exist
Our family harvests nature’s healing gifts to nourish your wellbeing.
Akshar is Sanskrit for imperishable. It is the promise we hold ourselves to: lasting good, from the soil a leaf is grown in to the hands that seal the pouch it arrives in.
The beginning
A bridge between two kinds of hunger.
Akshar was founded by Deviyani, a retired New York City firefighter, and her niece Nirali, an organic farm auditor. Between them they had seen two things that did not belong in the same world: malnutrition in some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods on earth, and deep poverty among the rural farmers growing some of its most nourishing crops.
They set out to build a bridge across that distance — a company that carries nature’s wellness from the farmer’s field directly to the family’s cup, and returns fair, dependable value to the people who grow it. Every harvest we buy is a market a smallholder can count on; every product we sell is a small act of connection between continents.
What we stand for
Three commitments, kept in every pouch.
Uncompromised quality
Small-batch loose-leaf teas, spice blends and premium vanilla, prepared in our FDA-compliant New York facility , never chemically treated, never artificially manipulated, sealed at peak freshness.
Community & dignity
Closer to home, we work with the Maryhaven Center of Hope in New York, employing differently-abled trainees to hand-pack our products, because commerce should carry dignity and purpose, not just goods.
- 01 Herbal loose leaves Guava, papaya, hibiscus, moringa & soursop
- 02 Tea bags Single herbs and considered blends
- 03 Spices & powders Ground and whole, small-batch
- 04 Premium vanilla beans Grade A, single-origin — see NY Vanilla
A sister brand of Akshar
Established in 2018 and run from Long Island, NY Vanilla is the family’s single-origin vanilla house — the culmination of more than twenty years spent travelling the world’s vanilla regions to select the finest beans, one origin at a time. Never blended, never diluted; hand-selected, moisture-tested and vacuum-sealed at peak aroma.
- UgandaEast African, bold
- MadagascarBourbon classic
- MexicoThe original
- TahitiPolynesian floral
Taste the connection.
Every purchase supports farmer prosperity, habitat restoration and community across continents. Brew something that means something.