In 2018, Anjali Bhargava was running a demo at The Green Grape, her first retailer and the first specialty store to carry her turmeric elixirs. It was a slow afternoon. She fell into a long conversation with a woman who never mentioned Joe Coffee until, well into the conversation, Anjali mentioned something about her business and the woman said she might be able to help. That woman was Gabby, co-founder of Joe.
Five weeks later, Anjali got an email saying her product would be tested on the menu the following spring. She went on the menu that March and has been on it ever since.
She came home from the demo that day to find that the kitchen she produced out of had closed with no notice. She needed to produce hundreds of pounds at a time, more than she could manage on her own equipment and not enough volume yet to work with a co-packer. "Literally it was because of Joe Coffee and because of that conversation with Gabby that day that I was able to work with a co-packer and stay in business," she said.
Turmeric itself goes back further, to her childhood, when her mother reached for it for everything from a sprained ankle to a cold. Anjali hated the taste. It took years, and a dehydrator, before she understood why. Fresh turmeric tastes nothing like the powdered version, and a small amount of it does more work. Her own elixir is built from three turmeric varieties, and every new batch is tasted and approved by her mother before it's finalized. "She's our literal angel investor," Anjali said.
Asked to define a good neighbor, she didn't hesitate. "Good neighbors expand your horizon. They expand your worldview. They expand opportunities. They increase your joy in life, but they also make things possible. I feel like in a city like New York, part of the way that dreams come true is because people help each other out and lift each other up."