Our approach
Sourcing and traceability.
Indian spice farming is overwhelmingly smallholder agriculture — a cardamom holding in Idukki or a chilli plot near Guntur is typically measured in acres, not hundreds of acres. Most volume moves through regulated market yards and commission agents before it reaches an exporter.
Our sourcing model is built around that structure. Every consignment carries a lot number that resolves to the growing region, the market yard or processing unit it passed through, the procurement date and the laboratory report that released it. That record travels with the shipping documents and is retained for the full shelf life of the lot.
Where a buyer requires traceability to the farm — an organic programme, an on-pack sustainability claim, or a due-diligence file for their own auditors — we run it as a contracted programme: volumes committed ahead of the season, material sourced through a named grower group, and the chain of custody documented at every transfer. It is scoped and quoted separately because it is operated separately.
Priority areas
Where we put the effort.
Prompt payment at origin
Delayed payment is the most common way value is stripped out of a smallholder supply chain. We settle against agreed terms at procurement rather than after the buyer pays us.
Post-harvest losses
Aflatoxin in chilli and pepper is a drying and storage problem long before it is a testing problem. Buying from units with proper drying yards and moisture control removes the failure at source instead of catching it at the lab.
Residue reduction
EU MRLs keep tightening. We work with processing partners who track spray records, and we screen against destination limits rather than Indian domestic ones — which are, on several actives, materially looser.
Water and drying energy
Turmeric boiling and polishing and ginger drying are the water- and energy-intensive steps in our product list. Partner selection accounts for how those are run.
Packaging weight
Kraft paper with a food-grade liner over multi-layer laminate wherever the barrier requirement allows it, and pallet configurations that fill the container rather than shipping air.
Labour practice at partner units
Sortex, milling and repacking units are visited before we place volume with them. Basic conditions, and the absence of child labour, are a condition of doing business, not an audit box.
Programmes
Certified and traceable programmes
We buy from growers who farm without synthetic inputs wherever the line allows it. Where your market requires a certified claim on top of that, we build the supply around a certified partner — but the claim has to be real, certified by a recognised body, and reflected in the price.
| Programme | How it works |
|---|---|
| Certified organic (NPOP / NOP / EU) | Run through NPOP-certified grower groups and a certified processing partner, with a valid transaction certificate issued for each consignment. Certified organic supply runs on longer lead times and rewards a firm forward commitment. |
| Grower-group traceable | Volume contracted from a named farmer producer organisation, with intake records retained. Practical on cardamom, pepper and turmeric; harder on coriander. |
| Residue-controlled | Spray-record monitoring through the season and pre-harvest sampling, for buyers with MRLs tighter than the EU baseline. |
| Fairtrade / Rainforest Alliance | Available through certified partners on selected lines. Ask before you build it into a tender — we will tell you honestly whether we can hold the volume. |