There is an increased need for sustainable spice production.

Poor agricultural practices, lack of adequate processing facilities and growers switching to high-value crops or jobs, have caused an increase in the number of concerns around spices production especially over long-term supply, food safety and traceability. Additionally, the sector also deals with sustainability issues such as uncontrolled pesticide use, poor wastewater management and indecent labor conditions.

The demand for sustainable spices is only starting to grow.

Food manufacturers have difficulty promoting sustainable spices to consumers, because spices are an important ingredient, but not the main substance in the end-products. The organization of the value chains for all different products and origins remains a challenge for the industry to meet this demand. Nevertheless, interest in sustainable spices is growing. For many front-runners, sustainable sourcing has shown important, increasing a company's credibility and position in the supply chain and markets.

We consider ourselves as frontrunners in sustainability.

Enabling our buyers to source their products directly in the land of origin at audited and selected processors allows spice industries to reduce their ecological footprint. We feel sustainability should be driven by the key processors in countries of origin and to be supported and encouraged by the major spice importing industries.