Spice industry to focus more on value addition

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

The spice industry needs to focus more on value addition as it will bring more revenue to the country. It should be promoted and developed as the poor people in the rural areas benefit immensely from the industry, said Ministry of Export Development and International Trade Secretary S. Ranugge.

The Spices and Allied Product Producers and Traders’ Association (SAPPTA) celebrated its silver jubilee AGM on Friday. The spice industry is an agri based industry and nearly 100 percent of its contribution comes from within the industry. The value addition is necessary to attract world markets and it will also help create more employment opportunities, he said.

Commodity	2007		2008
Cardamom	2,918		2,948	
Cinnamon	29,092		30,041
Citronella	979		990
Clove		7,805		7,870
Cocoa		2,289		2,377
Coffee		7,941		8,098
Nutmeg		1,074		1,107
Pepper		30,106		30,866
Total		82,204		137,728

Source: The Department of Export Agriculture

“Sri Lankan Spices have a special nieche in the global demand due to the specific quality that they inhibit. The industry has been contributing to a small, yet extremely important percentage in the country’s exports”, SAPPTA’s Immediate Past Chairman Karthik Ramachandran said.

The year 2008/09 contributed a total of 14.6 Billion Rupees in exports of our Sri Lankan spices with a marginal growth over the last year. Volumes of these products have gone up from 29122 Metric tonnes in 2007 to 33026 Metric tonnes in 2008, he said. It is a milestone to reach 25 years and SAPPTA has achieved it in its life by serving the spice industry and its associates. The Sri Lankan spice industry has seen continuous growth while the global demand has been increasing phenomenally. The reason behind the demand has been the awareness of a healthy lifestyle, he said.

“For the past few years, conglomerates and FMCG manufacturers have been focused on making the population healthier. Our spices, being natural antioxidants and scientifically tested remedies for various illnesses are used in good quantities for these preparations,” he said.

The spice industry was affected like all other industries last year due to the global recession. This has been proven to be a temporary problem as all these geographic locations are now turning around and have started to show signs of increasing demand, he said.