BLACK CARDAMOM X GREEN CARDAMOM

 

The Differences between Cardamom Varieties

Cardamom is the third most expensive spice in the world, after saffron and vanilla. You can find two main varieties of cardamom that are grown in different parts of the world. Cardamoms are one of the most commonly used spices in Indian cooking,
It's all over India - in our masala chai and garam masala, and most Indian desserts. They are also used in many other cuisines like Middle Eastern, Moroccan, and Scandinavian.

Green cardamom is grown in India, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka. This variety has a sweet taste with a hint of lemon flavor.

Black cardamom often goes by the name brown cardamom or large-sized cardamom. It's a type of cardamom that originates in Eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling district in India. This variety has a a wonderful scent of smokiness and camphor.

What is a Cardamom Pod And How Does it Taste?

A cardamom pod is a spice that is obtained from the cardamom plant and it has a very distinct taste. It is used in many different cuisines and dishes around the world. The pods are picked when they are still green and then dried to make them brown.

The pods can be used whole or ground up for various purposes such as flavoring curries, gingerbread, coffee, tea, cakes, cookies etc. Cardamom pods can also be used to make tea by boiling water with the pods in it.

Processing

While the green cardamom comes from the species Elettaria cardamomum. 

The black cardamom belongs to the species Amomum subulatum. 

The main difference between these two cardamom varieties is the way they are processed. 

When it comes to green cardamom, the pods are harvested before maturity. 

The pods of black cardamom are harvested much later and are also dried over large fires.

Green cardamom is grown in India, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka. This variety has a sweet taste with a hint of lemon flavor. 

Black cardamom often goes by the name brown cardamom or large-sized cardamom. 

It's a type of cardamom that originates in Eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling district in India..

Brazil - Award-winning coffee sells for record price at auction

 

Japanese coffee shop buys Geisha coffee, from Fazenda Rainha, for R$84,500 (U$ 17,175 ) per bag

By Isadora Camargo — São Paulo

12/13/2023 05:03 Updated 5 hours ago

Geisha coffee, from Fazenda Rainha, from Orfeu Cafés, in São Sebastião da Grama (SP), was sold for R$84,500 per 60-kilo bag to the Japanese Sarutahiko Coffee, in the auction of the winning coffees of the Cup of Excellence 2023 The amount paid was the highest in history for a Brazilian dry coffee. The Japanese company won three bags.

The Geisha batch was the winner of the dry category of the competition, which is organized by the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE). Another 29 samples awarded in the Cup of Excellence participated in the auction on the 6th.

Japan is among the top ten buyers of Brazilian coffee, with 2.07 million bags between January and November this year, according to Cecafé.

The president of Orfeu, Ricardo Madureira, attributed the value achieved at the auction to the quality of the Geisha type and the dry method. “It is more difficult to achieve high quality in the dry process, because the grain is not washed after harvest. This requires getting the coffee collection right. By drying in the plant, the sugar from the pulp passes into the grain and produces a sweeter drink”, explained the executive.

Being more than 1,500 meters above sea level, coffee requires regenerative care, such as cover crops. The farm also maintains 35% of the native forest in the coffee plantation. “All of this increased the price of coffee at auction,” he said.

The auction raised R$1.5 million, after almost nine hours and three thousand bids. The value was reflected in the average price of the lots, which reached R$ 13 thousand per bag.

The second highest bid was given to wet coffee (peeled, pulped or demucilated cherry) from Fazenda Rio Verde, owned by Ipanema Agrícola, located in Conceição do Rio Verde (MG). The bag was purchased for R$40,700 by Grupo Cafeza, from Brazil.

The third highest bid was for fermented coffee from the same property, which reached R$32,700 per bag. The batch was acquired by the Chinese Decameron Coffee.

Companies from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Bulgaria, South Korea, the United States and Norway also purchased coffees, which Madureira considers a foreign 'awakening' of Brazilian beans. For him, acclaim helps transform internal consumption, generating a ritual similar to wine tasting.

Aware of changes in consumption, Orfeu wants to increase its participation in the specialty coffee segment, launching product lines in Brazilian retail.

The company's president revealed that, in 2024, a special edition of the batch purchased by Japan will be prepared for sale. The brand also started selling three new types of coffee in premium supermarkets (acauã, arara and japi) as part of its growth strategy, projected at 30% for 2024.FF

Café premiado é vendido por preço recorde em leilão (globo.com)

Quick highlight spices market update 11th December 2023 – Week 49.

 

 

The price of pepper has increased by 4% compared to last week. This means that the price of black pepper has increased by 14.5% since the beginning of November, despite the fact that the largest consumer of Vietnamese pepper, China, has not made any purchases for over a month. The main reason is the dwindling stock levels in the last months of the year, while the main harvest of 2024 is still over 2 months away.

BRAZIL Black Pepper December 2023

Brazilian black pepper prices are on the rise in recent weeks, due to the lack of stock and since Brazilian farmers are not willing to sell what's remaining of their product in lieu of the severe drought in growing regions. 

The harvest in Para state in Brazil has just finished. The region is currently enduringa drought, with the most significant impact anticipated for the 2024 crop.

Brazil exported 58,000 MT, 4% down from the last year.
Volumes partly shifted from the US and EU to Africa and Asia.
Excess rain in Dec-Feb hurt the Espirito Santo (ES) crop, while Para, where the harvest has just finished, is now suffering from a drought linked to El Niño. 

Finnaly since the last weekend prices exploded and the local market is very volatile, with prices changingby hour, making impossible long lasting firm offers.

Cardamom - Guatemalan crop is expected to be 35% shorter than last crop

December 6, 2023

Guatemalan crop is expected to be 35% shorter than last crop, due to severe dry weather which has damaged the crop. Arrivals have started during November, so about 1.5 months late. Arrival volumes are increasing, but are still well below normal levels. Because of the above, prices have strongly increased vs last crop. 

Quick highlight spices market update 27th Nov 2023 – Week 47.

 

 

The price of black pepper continued to show a clear upward trend in November, with an increase from 69,000 VND (1st/11/2023) to 73,500 VND (26th/11/2023), corresponding to a price increase of 6.5% in November. The main reason for this is the strong demand from major import markets for end of year 2023 and Q1/2024 shipment.

This year’s harvest season in Vietnam is expected to be relatively similar to the previous year, with a few small harvest locations in early January and the main harvest season starting in late February or mid March 2024. This means there are still about 3 months until the 2024 harvest season.

 

Problems with Black Pepper crop in Brazil

 
Want to bring to your attention a message we received yesterday from one of Brazilian exporters focusing on market situation in Brazil now:

We would like to inform about the pepper market nowadays, in which we are facing difficulties to find suppliers willing to sell, or with stock.

The main cause of this situation is the heatwave that is happening , from the phenomenon named El Niño" that is causing a extreme temperatures in Brazil, including producing areas, and as we stated before, pepper can only resist 32 celsius, and in some areas is reaching 43. 

Suppliers are very concerned regarding their production that seems to be affected for next years and this small crop we are facing in  the end of the year. 

It’s being extremely difficult to find pepper on the market to buy nowadays  

As we are seeing no supplier is offering and they are bringing price up since of this causes i’ve mentioned.

Therefore, new contracts placed after this week will only be shipped in January 2024.