Pepper & spices: Overview
From the pepper mill to meat seasoning and medicine
What this tab covers What the commodity is used for, why, in what volumes and with what alternatives, and its chain from mine or field to end user. Also the latest price moves, top recent news, three things to know, and buttons into each tab.Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilli (whole, crushed and powder) for cooking and food processing | 25.6% | 572,757 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26basis | Chilli adds heat and colour to cuisines across Asia, Latin America and Africa. India's Guntur belt grows large volumes of varieties bred for pungency or colour, and buyers in China, Bangladesh, Thailand and Sri Lanka source them for sauces, pastes and paprika-style colour. Spices Board India, Major item-wise export, Apr-Jan 2025-26 (published 2026) | Paprika and capsicum oleoresin from China and Spain Black pepper and ginger for heat |
| Cumin (jeera) seed for cooking and blends | 12.2% | 166,878 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26basis | Cumin is a base flavour in South Asian, Middle Eastern and Mexican cooking. Gujarat and Rajasthan dominate world supply, and the crop is a short winter crop, so prices swing with acreage and weather in a single region. Spices Board India, Apr-Jan 2025-26 | Caraway Coriander and fennel in blends |
| Spice oils and oleoresins for flavour and food industry | 11.8% | 16,882 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26basis | Food makers prefer oleoresins, solvent extracts of pepper, paprika, turmeric and other spices, because they give consistent strength, no microbes and easy dosing. India leads in extraction and often imports raw spice to process and re-export, which earns far more per tonne. Spices Board India, Apr-Jan 2025-26 | Whole and ground spices Synthetic or nature-identical flavours |
| Small cardamom for sweets, tea and Gulf coffee | 9.4% | 12,281 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26basis | Cardamom's aroma is central to Gulf coffee (gahwa), Indian sweets and chai. Indian cardamom from Idukki fetches a premium over Guatemalan pods for colour and oil content, and Gulf buyers are the main market. Spices Board India, Apr-Jan 2025-26 | Guatemalan cardamom Large (black) cardamom Cardamom flavour extracts |
| Mint products (menthol, mint oils) for pharma and oral care | 8.1% | 19,636 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26basis | Natural menthol from Uttar Pradesh's mint farms goes into toothpaste, cough remedies, confectionery and cigarettes. India dominates natural menthol, competing mainly against synthetic menthol. Spices Board India, Apr-Jan 2025-26 | Synthetic menthol |
| Turmeric for food colour, cooking and health products | 7.7% | 151,933 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26basis | Turmeric colours curries, mustard and processed foods, and curcumin extracts are sold as supplements. India grows most of the world's turmeric, so importers have few alternatives at scale. Spices Board India, Apr-Jan 2025-26 | Annatto and paprika (colour) Synthetic yellow food colours |
| Black pepper as table spice and seasoning | 3.1% | 16,178 t exported in Apr-Jan 2025-26; world output 0.93 Mt in 2024basis | Pepper is the most widely traded spice in the West, used in meat processing, snacks and as a table spice. Vietnam and Brazil supply bulk grades at low cost, so Indian Malabar pepper now sells mainly at home and in premium niches. Spices Board India, Apr-Jan 2025-26; FAOSTAT 2024 | Vietnamese and Brazilian pepper White pepper Chilli for heat |
From field to user
- Planting Pepper vines are trained on live trees or posts and bear for years; India had 0.31 Mha under pepper in 2024, the largest area of any country (FAOSTAT).
- Harvest Pepper spikes and cardamom capsules are hand-picked over several rounds; world pepper output was 0.93 Mt in 2024 (FAOSTAT).
- Drying and curing Pepper berries are sun-dried until black; cardamom is dried in heated curing houses to keep its green colour.
- Assembly and auction Traders collect produce in Kochi and other hubs; small cardamom is sold through Spices Board licensed e-auctions in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- Cleaning, grading and sterilising Exporters clean and grade to buyer specs such as ASTA cleanliness and EU residue limits, and steam-sterilise to kill microbes.
- Grinding and extraction Processors grind and blend spices or extract oils and oleoresins; India exported 16,882 t of oils and oleoresins worth $430 million in Apr-Jan 2025-26 (Spices Board).
- Export and blending Importers and blenders such as McCormick and ofi pack retail jars and supply food makers; the US took 23.4% of world HS 0904 import value in 2024 (UN Comtrade).
- Retail and food industry Spices reach home kitchens, restaurants, snack and meat processors, and pharma.
Price movement snapshot 2026-10-25
No public daily or monthly benchmark price for this commodity in the datasets used.
World production 933k tonnes, 2024 Largest producer Vietnam 28.09% of worldThree things to know
- World pepper output more than tripled between 1990 and 2024, from 288 to 933 thousand tonnes (FAOSTAT).
- Spices made up 66% of the Comoros' exports in 2013-2017, a textbook monoeconomy (Radetzki & Wårell).
- HS 0904 lumps black pepper with dried chillies, paprika and allspice, so India and China lead its export rankings.
Top recent news snapshot 2026-10-25, last 30 days
- With prices soaring, cardamom gains aroma on strong demand, export enquiriesBusinessLine · 2026-10-16
- Keralam urges Centre to exclude Cardamom Hill Reserve from ESAThe New Indian Express · 2026-10-15
- Police seize 1,410 kg of dry ginger, 20 kg of cardamomThe Hindu · 2026-10-11
- Fading Aroma of Black Cardamom: A $480 million market may bloom while India's 'black gold' wiltsThe Economic Times · 2026-10-11
- Festival demand lifts black pepper prices by ₹16/kg in 3 weeksBusinessLine · 2026-10-21