Overview
The Indian Ocean tropical island of Sri Lanka formally known by names
such as Taprobane, Serendib and Ceylon has been famous for its quality
spices since time immemorial. The story of spices from Ceylon dates back
to 14 th century and evidence has been uncovered of spice trade being
conducted through roman period.
The western nations such as the Portuguese, Dutch and the
English with maritime powers were attracted to the island mainly for its
riches in spices, precious stones and ivory that was to be found here.
As the botanical name stands “ Cinnamomum zeylanicum ” the
cinnamon plant is an endemic plant to our island and we still continue
to enjoy over 90% of the world market for true cinnamon.
Sri Lanka being a tropical island close to the equator, the
fertile and diverse soil types, varying micro climates and the
favourable temperature variations, enhances the intrinsic value of most
crops grown on this island.
The spices and Herbs used for flavor, aroma and Medicinal
properties derive a special value from the said factors. However we are
yet to obtain the true potential of these values as traditional system
has been to market our produce as bulk commodities rather than to value
add offer end products from the valuable spice crops.
The newly emerging spice producing countries as well as the
traditional large producers have been noted to adopt scientific
agronomic practices as well as high yielding propagation techniques and
have been able to produce large volume of crops at relatively lower
cost. The bulk commodity prices of most spices have decline to this
reason.
The global food industry has been focusing on food safety
and hygiene and the developed markets has introduce many entry
requirements such as GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) GMP (Good
Manufacturing Practices) HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points) for all food products entering these markets.
The market for Organic and Fair trade certified products too
has been growing and the Sri Lankan Spice industry has the potential to
value add our produce by gearing its products to these standard.
