Ceylon Cinnamon as Spice

About Cinnamon

Cinnamon was one of the first traded spices of the ancient world. Cinnamon was a popular spice in the ancient Arab world and Arab traders have paved the way for Cinnamon to travel a long distance through the spice route to the Europen market. Cinnamon has motivated many historical voyages leading to discovery of New World by Christopher Columbus and Vasco De Gamma to Sri Lanka & South India.
Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinamomum Zylanicum) a plant indigenous to Sri Lanka is a moderately size bushy ever green tree. Cinnamon grown and produced in Sri Lanka has acquired long standing reputation in the international market due to its unique, quality, colour, flavour and aroma. The name Ceylon Cinnamon derived from the former name of Sri Lanka is a very established geographical indication for Cinnamon.

Cinnamon is the most important and valuable spice produced in Sri Lanka. Before the advent of modern food preservation technology Europeans have used Cinnamon with Pepper to preserve meet products. Cinnamon is used in bakery products, Asian foods and flavoured tea for its distinctive aroma & flavour. With growing concern on health hazards associated with synthetic flavouring agents used in the food industry there is an increasing preference for natural flavours worldwide
The unique method of processing and curing of cinnamon entices the characteristic Flavour over cassia. The preparation of Cinnamon quills involves a combination of art and skill unique to Sri Lanka and has been handed down from generation to generation over centuries. Value added Cinnamon products such as Cinnamon oil, Cinnamon powder and Tablets are also produced and exported to large number of countries.

The Ceylon Cinnamon belongs to the family Lauraceae and it contains about 250 species and sub species. ‘Ceylon Cinnamon’ (Cinamomum Zeylanicum Blume) and Cassia are the more important ones that are traded in the international market. Cassia is originated from different countries such as China, Vietnam region, Java region, Indonesia and India. ‘Ceylon Cinnamon’ referred to as “sweet cinnamon” and “true cinnamon” is considered superior to the variety known as Cassia.

Cinnamon as a Food item

As a Spices: Cinnamon is the most important and valuable spice produced in Sri Lanka. Value added Cinnamon produced such as Cinnamon oil, Cinnamon powder & tablets are also produced in Sri Lanka for export to large number of countries. Cinnamon is used in bakery products, Asian foods, flavoured tea for its distinctive aroma and flavour and also in the preservation of certain foods.
Health Aspect of the Cinnamon: Therapeutic effect of cinnamon against diabetic and hypertension is now well established. Polyphonic called cennamatannin, a proanthocyanaidins found in cinnamon is responsible to the above effects.

At present Cinnamon is widely used as a food ingredient, in the pharmaceutical preparations & in the cosmetics industry world wide. Being high in antioxidants it is good for overall health. Volatile oil of Cinnamon is widely used in perfumes, cosmetics and scented exotic gifts.

Main Markets

USA & Mexico are the main markets for Ceylon Cinnamon. Colombia, Equador, Peru, Spain, Gautemala, Chile and Bolivia are the other countries which consume a considerable amount of Ceylon Cinnamon. Sri Lanka has an immense potential to penetrate into niche market segments in the International market. Sri Lanka's exports represent 41.13% of world exports for this product, its ranking in world exports is 1(Trademap2013).

Branding Of Ceylon Cinnamon

Branding of Pure Ceylon Cinnamon and promoting it as a global brand in target markets is very important to highlight the main characteristics of the Ceylon Cinnamon and differentiate the Cinnamon from Cassia to gain the comparative advantage. Accordingly Ceylon Cinnamon has introduced to the international market as a branded product namely “Pure Ceylon Cinnamon” which reflects a combination of several intrinsic characteristics discussed earlier. EDB has completed the registration of 'Pure Ceylon Cinnamon' trademark in Europe and USA and obtained the certificates of registration from both countries.

Importance of Complying with Quality Standards

Quality determines the value of Cinnamon exports which helps to reach the target of US $500mn in 2015

• Problems are encountered due to quality failures of exported cinnamon in international market and there is a risk of losing international market for Sri Lankan Cinnamon.
• As a country we have to ensure that Sri Lanka exports good quality products to international market
• Quality products are more competitive in the international market and increase the confidence in food products .Quality needs for high level protection of consumer/human health

Categories: Cinnamon

History of Ceylon Tea

Tea has a rich and fascinating history. For hundreds of years people consumed tea for its medicinal qualities. More and more tea plats were discovered and tea drinking became more popular. All this paved the way to tea becoming one of the most sort after beverages around the globe. 

Sri Lanka was introduced to tea much later. Until the 1860's the main crop produced in Sri Lanka was Coffee but in 1869 a fungus destroyed the crop so the estate owners had to diversify into other crops. Firstly a tea plant was brought to Sri Lanka from China and was planted in the Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya, this was planted for non-commercial purposes. In 1867 James Taylor planted 19 acres of tea in the Loolecondera estate in Kandy, and there in on tea became a commercially used crop in Sri Lanka. In 1872, James Taylor started a fully equipped tea factory in the same estate and in the same year he made the first sale of tea in Kandy. In 1873 the first international sale of tea was made, a shipment consisting of 23lb's of tea was sent to an auction in London. 

The production of tea rose rapidly in 1880's and by 1899 the area cultivated had exceedingly grown to nearly 400,000 acres of tea. By that time British figures such as Henry Randolph Trafford arrived in Sri Lanka and purchased coffee estates, his knowledge about coffee was limited but his knowledge about to tea was vast and he is now considered on of the pioneers in tea plantation in Sri Lanka. 

The rapid growth and popularity of tea, lead to it being sold at several auctions. The first public auction of tea was held at Somerville & Co in July 1883. and then went on to being sold at auctions held worldwide, a total sum of one million tea packets were sold in the Chicago World Fair in 1893. The Ceylon Tea Traders association was formed in 1894 and today all tea produced in Sri Lanka is conducted by this association along with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Later in 1896 the Colombo Broker's Association was formed and in 1915 the first Ceylonese was appointed as the Chairman of the Planter's Association, his name was Thomas Amarasuriya. By 1927 the production if tea in the country exceeded 100,00o metric tonnes which was almost entirely for export purposes. 

By the 1960's the total production of tea and exports exceeded to 200,000 metric tones and 200,000 hectares, and for the first time in 1965, Sri Lanka became the world's largest tea exporter. In 1963 the production and export of instant Tea was introduced and the first International Tea Convention was held in 1966 to commemorate 100 years of tea industry in Sri Lanka. In 1976 the Sri Lankan Tea Board was founded along with others such as the Janatha Estate Development Board, Sri Lanka Estate Plantation Cooperation and the Tea Small Holding Development Authority, these bodies played a major part when it came to supervising the estates acquired by the state. And this same year tea bags were introduced to export. 

In 1980 the official supplier of tea for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games was Sri Lanka, and again in 1982 for the 12th Commonwealth Games held Brisbane and alter on in 1987 at the Expo 88 in Australia. 

Subsequently in the years to come the production and the export of tea rapidly increased and was introduced to variations, such as the production of Green Tea and also other flavored tea. In 2001 tea made it's first online sale at the Colombo Tea auctions. 

Ceylon Tea is famous worldwide, the weather conditions in the country provides vastly to the success of its growth and is made famous by the taste and quality that is only unique to Ceylon Tea. Sri Lanka caters Ceylon Tea to a number of global markets and has become the most favorite beverage among its consumers worldwide.

Categories: History