Ceylon cloves wholesale: which of three grades and which moisture limit goes on your order?

If you buy Ceylon cloves wholesale, the order should name one of the three Sri Lanka Standards grades and its moisture limit: 12% maximum for Grade 1 and Grade 2, 14% for Grade 3. The Department of Export Agriculture publishes the grade table, and it is the set of figures a buyer can quote back to a supplier. This guide shows the table, where and when cloves are grown, and what to write in the enquiry so the offers you receive can be compared line by line.

Where Ceylon cloves are grown and when they are harvested

The Department of Export Agriculture gives the botanical name of clove as Syzygium aromaticum L. and says the main product is the dried whole bud. Ground clove goes into curry mixtures, and clove oil is used to flavour foods. Whole buds are what most wholesale enquiries mean, so that is the form this guide covers.

Clove is mainly grown in the Mid Country wet zone. The department names Kandy, Kegalle and Matale as the major growing districts, with a total extent of 7618 ha. If a supplier tells you the cloves come from somewhere else, ask which district, because the growing areas the department lists are a short list.

Cloves are picked when the flower petals change colour from olive green to yellow pink. The season usually runs from December to the end of April, depending on locality. That window matters for planning: an enquiry sent in the middle of the season is about new-crop buds, while one sent after April is about stored stock, and the two can differ in moisture and appearance.

The three clove grades, side by side

The department lists three Sri Lanka Standards grades for cloves. Moisture and extraneous matter are limited in every grade; the limits on short cloves and khuker cloves are what separate the top grades from the lower ones.

Limit (by mass)	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3
Maximum moisture	12%	12%	14%
Maximum extraneous matter	1%	2%	3%
Cloves below 10mm in length	15% at most	25% at most	No limit in the figures listed
Khuker cloves	3% at most	5% at most	10% at most

Read the table as a ladder. Moving from Grade 1 to Grade 3 allows more moisture, more foreign matter and more khuker cloves in the lot. Khuker is the grade table's own term, so ask the supplier to explain in plain words what is counted under it before you accept the figure.

Confirm these figures on the source page before you copy them into a contract: the Department of Export Agriculture clove page (dea.gov.lk). The table gives the limits that page lists; the full standard may carry test methods and other limits that you should also request.

Why moisture is the figure to put in your purchase order

Moisture decides how long the lot keeps. The department says well-dried cloves at 8-10% moisture can be stored in gunny bags for 1 or 2 years without fungus or insect damage. The grade limits of 12% and 14% are ceilings, not targets, so a lot can meet Grade 1 on paper and still sit well above the storage figure.

For a packer or distributor that keeps stock for months, that gap is worth a line in the enquiry. State the grade, state the moisture limit you will accept, and ask the supplier to attach the analysis report for the lot you are buying. A report for last season's cloves says nothing about the lot that will be loaded.

The same applies to extraneous matter. The limits of 1% in Grade 1 and 3% in Grade 3 look close on a page, but on a pallet of cartons the difference is the amount of stalk, stone and debris your own line will have to remove.

How to write a clove enquiry that can be compared

1. Name the product and form. Write whole dried clove buds, or ground clove if that is what you pack, and give the botanical name so there is no confusion with other spices.
2. Name the grade. Write Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 under the Sri Lanka Standards, and say whether you accept an equivalent grade from the supplier's own system.
3. Set the limits you will accept. Copy the moisture, extraneous matter, short-clove and khuker figures from the table, or write tighter ones if your own specification asks for it.
4. Add the harvest season. Say whether you want new-crop buds from the December to April harvest or stored stock.
5. Give the HS code. Sri Lanka's export tariff, as published by the Export Development Board, lists cloves under heading H.09.07. Confirm the code your own customs broker uses at destination.
6. Ask for the papers. Name the analysis report, the phytosanitary certificate and, for a market that asks for it, the health certificate.

The papers that come with a clove shipment

The grade table tells you what the cloves should be. The papers show who checked. These are the ones a spice buyer usually needs to ask about, based on the Sri Lankan authorities' own pages.

Paper	Who issues it	What to ask
Phytosanitary certificate	National Plant Quarantine Service, after officers inspect and sample the goods	That it is issued before dispatch and lists the correct botanical name
Food export health certificate	Food Control Administration Unit (FCAU) of the Ministry of Health, which covers spices and condiments	Whether your destination asks for particular parameters in the certificate
Quality or analysis report	An accredited quality firm such as SLSI, ITI or SGS Lanka	Moisture and extraneous matter for the lot, not for an earlier crop
Fumigation certificate	The plant quarantine service or an approved private company	Only if your buyer or authority requires it

The Export Development Board's export procedure guide says quality, health, phytosanitary and fumigation certificates are submitted when the buyer asks for them. They do not appear on their own, so list them in the enquiry. Our guide to which export papers come as standard and which you must ask for goes through the full set.

The FCAU advises exporters to check with the importing agent before shipping, because different countries request different parameters in the health certificate. If you import into the European Union, the rules for residue testing and origin statements are covered in our guide to importing spices into the EU from Sri Lanka. Destination rules change, so confirm the current position with your customs broker or the authority before you order.

Cloves among the other Sri Lankan spices

Cloves are one of several grade systems a spice buyer meets in the same enquiry. If your order also includes pepper, cardamom or nutmeg, each has its own published grade names, and mixing them up is a common source of confusion. Our guide to grade names on Sri Lankan pepper, clove, nutmeg and cardamom offers compares them, and the cinnamon quill grades are explained in the Ceylon cinnamon grade guide.

Truly Ceylon's spices category lists cloves among its spices, with a page for whole cloves. The category page also says that most of its spice records do not state a grade, so buyers should give their own specification, for example a moisture limit, a cleanliness level and whole or ground form. That is why the enquiry steps above ask you to write the grade and limits yourself.

Common mistakes

• Ordering "cloves" without a grade. The three grades differ on moisture, foreign matter and defects, so an offer without a grade cannot be compared with another.
• Treating the moisture ceiling as the typical figure. A 12% ceiling and a stored lot at 8-10% are different products for shelf life.
• Accepting an old analysis report. The figures must come from the lot you are buying.
• Ignoring the harvest window. New-crop and stored buds can differ, and the season runs only from December to the end of April.
• Skipping the papers in the enquiry. Certificates are supplied when requested, so a missing line means a missing paper.
• Leaving out the HS code. The code on the enquiry should match what your broker will declare at destination.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Sri Lankan clove grades?

The Department of Export Agriculture lists three Sri Lanka Standards grades: Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3. They differ on maximum moisture, extraneous matter, short cloves and khuker cloves, as the grade table in this guide shows.

What moisture should I specify for cloves?

The grade ceilings are 12% for Grade 1 and Grade 2 and 14% for Grade 3. The department says well-dried cloves at 8-10% moisture can be stored in gunny bags for 1 or 2 years, so a buyer who stores stock may write a lower figure than the grade ceiling into the order.

When are cloves harvested in Sri Lanka?

Cloves are harvested when the flower petals change colour from olive green to yellow pink. The season usually runs from December to the end of April, depending on locality, so ask whether the offer is for new-crop or stored buds.

Which districts grow cloves?

The department names the Mid Country wet zone, with Kandy, Kegalle and Matale as the major growing districts and a total extent of 7618 ha. A supplier should be able to name the district the lot was bought from if you ask.

Which HS code do I use for whole cloves?

Sri Lanka's export tariff, as published by the Export Development Board, lists cloves under heading H.09.07. The code used at your destination is set by your own customs authority, so confirm it with your broker before the order is placed.

When your specification is ready, send it through the Truly Ceylon quote request page and list the grade, limits, form and papers you need, so each reply can be read against the same lines.

Key takeaways

• Name the Sri Lanka Standards grade and the moisture limit on every clove enquiry.
• Moisture ceilings are 12% for Grades 1 and 2 and 14% for Grade 3; well-dried cloves keep at 8-10%.
• Harvest runs from December to the end of April, mainly in Kandy, Kegalle and Matale.
• Ask in writing for the analysis report, phytosanitary certificate and any health certificate your market needs.
• Confirm destination rules and your HS code with your customs broker before ordering.