22/05/2025
🌿 Handpicking in clove processing is not just a traditional method — it's a quality assurance step that protects the value, aroma and purity of this prized spice, while also supporting ethical and sustainable production practices.
Here are five 🖐️ important facts about our handpicking-
1. Preserves Quality and Appearance- Handpicking helps maintain the integrity of the clove buds, minimizing breakage and preserving their natural shape, color and oil content — which is crucial for premium export quality.
2. Selective Sorting for Grade
Skilled workers can manually sort cloves by size, color, and maturity, ensuring only the best buds are selected for top-grade categories. This is especially important for spices marketed as "hand-selected" or "gourmet."
3. Removes Impurities - Handpicking helps remove foreign matter like twigs, leaves, stones, or immature/broken cloves, which are difficult to eliminate with machines alone.
4. Protects Volatile Oils - Mechanical handling can sometimes damage cloves and cause a loss of essential oils, particularly eugenol, which is responsible for the clove’s strong aroma and medicinal properties. Handpicking is gentler.
5. Creating work - Handpicking creates employment opportunities in rural areas, especially for women, contributing to community income and empowerment in spice-growing regions.
Ceylon Organic Spices is a registered trademark of Colombo Export & Import Agencies Pvt Ltd, Sri Lanka. To learn more about our complete export portfolio visit www.ceial.com. For our complete range of organic Sri lankan (Ceylon) spices, visit www.ceylonorganicspices.com
