1.2 World Trade
The trade distribution structure in the spice and herb trade can be divided into lines of supply to the three broad market sectors – industrial, catering and retail (Fig 1). The structure of the supply tree shows there are a number different routes to market, and the most direct is the producer supplying directly to the industrial sector. It is estimated that about 85% of the international trade of herbs and spices is dried and cleaned for use in a crude form without further processing.
Figure 1. Trade distribution structure for spices and spice products.
The world trade for the major spice products traded shows that pepper is the most valuable spice in the global trade, with capsicum trade rising to higher annual tonnage but lesser value (Appendix II, Table 6).
The top three exporting countries for specific spices or groups of spice show the leading producing countries are in tropical environments, while countries in summer dry Mediterranean or continental environments are the major producers of spice fruits and seeds, saffron, thyme and bay leaves (Appendix II, Table 7). The major spice trading countries are China , Madagascar , Indonesia and India while Guatemala , Brazil , Vietnam and Sri Lanka are significant traders. The value of that trade varies annually, and fluctuates about $US2.5 billion (Appendix II, Table 8).
Closely linked to the spice and herb trade is the extraction of flavour and aroma compounds in essential oils. The trade distribution for essential oils and oleoresins can also have a number of routes to market. The most simple is the small oil producer selling to the local market or to tourists while the large-scale producers would normally deal through fragrance and flavour house formulators. There are many manufacturing industries where the extracts of spices, herbs, and aromatic resins are used for flavour, aroma or product formulation (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Trade distribution structure for essential oils and oleoresins
The steam distilled essential oils or solvent-soluble oleoresins are primarily extracted from the herbs and spices in their raw form, but other plant parts such as leaves or rhizomes can also be extracted. The production tree for essential oils shows there are four broad sectors – flavour industries, personal care, pharmaceutical and industrial (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Industries and product categories that use essential oils.
The traded quantities and values of essential oils (see Appendix II, Table 9) provides a perspective of the international trade, although, as noted, up to date collated data is not readily available. It is also to be noted that extracts and oleoresins of spices which are becoming much more common and extracted in the countries of production, are not detailed within this data.
