Skip to content
TERRA INDICAIndia · Origin

Guntur Sannam Chilli

Guntur & Prakasam districts · Andhra Pradesh

Handpicked from the farmersBought at origin, not at the port
Sourcing at origin
TERRA INDICAEST. 2016
Export

Origin to
discharge.

Nothing in this process is unusual. It is simply done in the right order, every time, and written down as it happens. The paperwork is not an afterthought to the shipment — it is half of what you are buying.

Steps
06
Terms
FOB · CFR · CIF
Minimum order
1 tonne
Lead time
10 – 21 days
01

Origin

We buy where the spice is grown, not where it is traded onward. Nineteen regions, each selected because the crop is materially better there than anywhere else.

  • Standing relationships with grower groups and farmer producer organisations
  • Field visits through the harvest window, not after it
  • Lot-level record of village, grower group and harvest date
02

Selection

Handpicked at the yard against a written specification. Colour, size, moisture and foreign matter are checked before anything is paid for.

  • Physical grading against ASTA / sieve / purity specifications
  • Rejection at source rather than reconditioning later
  • Retained reference sample from every lot we take
03

Processing

Cleaning, de-stemming, gravity separation and sortex to the grade the buyer contracted for. Steam sterilisation where the destination requires it.

  • Machine cleaning, destoning and gravity separation
  • Colour sortex to 99.5% purity where specified
  • Steam sterilisation for microbiological limits
04

Testing

Third-party laboratory analysis before shipment. Pesticide residue, aflatoxin, microbiological load and the assay that defines the grade.

  • Pesticide residue screening against destination MRLs
  • Aflatoxin and microbiological testing
  • Assay on the defining figure — curcumin, ASTA, piperine, volatile oil
05

Documentation

Phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, laboratory reports and shipping documents issued and cross-checked before the container is sealed.

  • Phytosanitary certificate from plant quarantine
  • Certificate of origin and commercial documentation
  • Full test report pack travelling with the shipment
06

Shipment

Consolidated at port, sealed, and tracked to discharge. FCL and LCL, on FOB, CFR or CIF terms.

  • FCL and LCL consolidation
  • FOB · CFR · CIF terms
  • Container photographs and seal number recorded at stuffing
Own hands

Carried by our
own people.

Most spice changes hands three or four times between the yard and the vessel, and every handover trades a little quality for a little margin. Ours is walked through by people on our own payroll, whose brief is the condition of the lot — not the cost of keeping it right.

A named person owns your consignment

From the day a lot is agreed to the day the vessel sails, one of our own people is responsible for it — at the yard, on the cleaning line, at stuffing. You have their name and their number, and they have yours. Nothing about your order is anybody's side job.

Present at every handover

The weighbridge, the cleaning line, the stuffing bay — the points where a consignment in this trade usually changes hands and loses an owner are exactly the points where one of us is standing, watching it stay one thing from the field to the seal.

The grade is the brief

Every checkpoint answers one question: is this still the lot the contract describes? The moment the answer slips, the lot is pulled — regraded, replaced, or the shipment held — before it gets near a container. Shipping a doubt is not an option we keep on the table.

The saving we do not take

There is always a cheaper liner, a skippable test, a faster yard. That money stays on the table, deliberately. This business is built on the reorder rather than the order — and the reorder is bought with the lot that arrives exactly as it was sold.

Testing

Nothing ships
on trust.

Every lot is analysed by a third-party laboratory before it is stuffed, and the full report pack travels with the shipment. If a result falls outside the contracted specification, the lot does not go — we tell you before you find out at discharge.

A gloved hand holding a laboratory test tube

The panel

  • Pesticide residue screened against the destination's maximum residue limits, not a generic panel
  • Aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin on chilli, turmeric and seed spices
  • Microbiological load — total plate count, yeast and mould, Salmonella, E. coli
  • Foreign matter, extraneous matter and moisture on every lot
  • The assay that defines the grade: curcumin, ASTA colour, piperine, volatile oil
  • Heavy metals where the contract or destination requires it
Packing

How it travels.

  • 25 kg

    PP laminated bag with inner liner. Standard bulk unit.

  • 50 kg

    Jute or PP bag. Seed spices and whole chilli.

  • 10 – 20 kg

    Corrugated carton with food-grade liner. Cardamom and ground lines.

  • Retail

    50 g upward, your artwork, on consistent programmes.

Container
20′ FCL · 40′ HC · LCL consolidation
Terms
FOB · CFR · CIF
Ports of loading
Nhava Sheva · Chennai · Krishnapatnam · Cochin
Lead time
10 – 21 days from confirmed order, in season
Shipping containers stacked at a port terminal
Fig. 02
Container photographs and seal numbers are recorded at stuffing and sent before the vessel sails.
A steel shipping container against an open sky
Destinations

Where it
goes.

India’s top ten destinations account for more than 60% of national spice export earnings. These are the markets our own catalogue currently ships into — regions rather than countries are marked with a globe.

  • Australia
  • Bangladesh
  • China
  • Egypt
  • European Union
  • France
  • Germany
  • Iran
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Kuwait
  • Latin America
  • Malaysia
  • Middle East
  • Netherlands
  • Pakistan
  • Russia
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Scandinavia
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Sri Lanka
  • Turkey
  • UAE
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Vietnam
Questions

Asked before
the first order.

Ask something else
What is your minimum order quantity?
One tonne for seed spices and chilli. Cardamom, nutmeg and saffron move in smaller lots — from 50 kg for cardamom and 1 kg for saffron. Mixed containers are possible where the grades share a sterilisation requirement.
Can you ship against our own specification?
Yes. Send the specification sheet and destination, and we will confirm against the grade, the residue limits and the harvest window before quoting. If a specification cannot be met honestly from a given region, we will say so rather than substitute.
How is quality verified before shipment?
Third-party laboratory analysis on every lot — pesticide residue against the destination's MRLs, aflatoxin, microbiological load, and the assay that defines the grade. The full report pack travels with the shipment.
Do you supply private label and retail packs?
Yes, for consistent programmes. Bulk moves in 25 kg and 50 kg laminated or jute bags; retail packing is available from 50 g upward with your artwork.
Which incoterms do you work on?
FOB, CFR and CIF from Indian ports. Nhava Sheva, Chennai, Krishnapatnam and Cochin depending on origin.
How do you handle the harvest calendar?
Each spice has a fixed window — the calendar on each spice page is the real one. Contracts placed against a coming harvest are priced at the yard once the crop lands, not before.
WhatsApp the deskRequest a quote