The Spice Trade: 5 Facts You Should Know

The spice trade has been around since ancient times, but it’s not a thing of the past just yet. In fact, thanks to the Internet, it’s more accessible than ever before! That’s why we thought it would be helpful to compile five important facts you should know about Spice Trade India in case you are thinking about joining the lucrative market!

What is the spice trade?

Despite popular myth, spices do not add flavor to food—rather, they simply allow us to taste food as it really is. Spices also have other properties that make them particularly attractive in trade. With few exceptions, such as nutmeg or saffron, they can be grown around the world and are far more concentrated than herbs. So while they may be worth less per weight than gold or silver, they’re worth more on a volume basis. Today, there is a very brisk bulk spice trade online between farmers in countries like India and exporters like California-based Frontier Natural Products Co-op. Here are five facts you should know about Spice Trade Online.

What are spices?

There are many different spices on SpiceTrade, but what are they? Spices fall into three basic categories—fresh, dried and ground. Fresh spices include everything from anise to zucchini (yes, really). In their whole form, fresh spices can be added to dishes as they are or ground up for a more intense flavor. Examples of dried spices include bay leaves and nutmeg. Ground spices have been finely chopped into powder form for ease of use in recipes that call for them. Many include essential oils for extra flavor—like cinnamon sticks and ginger root. Others have no oil at all—like white pepper.

Why do people use spices?

For all of human history, spices have been used as food preservatives and flavoring. In addition to being inedible, they also serve as good preventative measures against microbial and fungal decay in food. Although spices can be expensive, people are willing to pay high prices for them because they are so much more efficient than using home remedies or adding vinegar to kill microorganisms. Spice trade is a very important business that involves bulk spice trading by suppliers around the world. It has roots going back many centuries but new developments continue to make it a very lucrative business for anyone involved in its import/export processes.

The history of trading spices

The spice trade was a historical network of trade routes in which spices, herbs, foods, and luxuries were transported from their origin (generally tropical Asia) to reach European markets. The term spice has also become a generic term for exotic luxuries as well as for seasoning blends and prepared food stuffs whose actual ingredients are disguised by being mixed together. The most common spices traded were black pepper, cinnamon (and its cheaper alternative cassia), cloves, cumin, nutmeg, and mace. The most precious spice mentioned in classical sources was saffron (in Latin crocus). The first mention of pepper is thought to be in Sanskrit verses dating from around 1000 BCE. An example of such would be ginger.

How did they get to Europe and Asia?

The spice trade routes were set up through five ancient maritime empires, which had direct trading contacts with each other. The first of these was Egypt and its empire, whose city of Alexandria became known as a center for trade soon after it was founded. Later, in 300 BC, India’s Mauryan Empire – at its peak one of Asia’s largest empires – began trade with Rome. Over time, Egypt and Rome established contact with Arabia and Persia (modern-day Iran), linking Europe to both southern Asia and East Africa via ports such as Aden on Yemen’s west coast. Trading between China and Persia began in around 100 AD, taking around two years to complete a journey across Asia by camel caravan or sailing ship; returning goods included gold from South Africa.