Notes from the trade desk
Insights
Notes on sourcing, quality and the regulations that shape botanical trade, written for the people who have to buy against a specification.
- Quality
Spice sterilisation: specify the result, not the method
The EU sets no microbiological limit for a spice. That makes your specification the only limit there is, and most of them name a method instead of a number.
Read insight → - Market
Vietnam cinnamon exports: what the EU import record actually shows
EU imports of Vietnamese cinnamon rose from 2,662 tonnes in 2019 to 6,145 in 2025. The volume line is the least useful thing in that sentence.
Read insight → - Quality
Star anise authentication: what to test before it reaches your line
The culinary species has a toxic relative that looks similar once dried. Identity testing is cheaper than a recall.
Read insight → - Regulation
Coumarin in Vietnamese cassia: what to specify, not just what's on the label
What the EU actually limits, how cassia compares to Ceylon, and exactly what to specify per lot.
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