Spices

Tata Tea Limited is a major grower, manufacturer and exporter of spices from India. It has a significant presence in the major spice growing areas and a well established infrastructure in the heart of the spice trade at Cochin, which makes it ideally placed to supply large quantities of premium quality bulk and processed spices.

Tata Spices Centre was set up in Cochin, in 1990 and consists of a modern pepper processing facility for Whole Black and White Pepper. The processing facility at Cochin has a capacity of about 2500 tons per annum. The process line is fully mechanised and human handling to ensure that strict standards of hygiene are followed as required by a product of international quality.

In every stage of the process, samples are drawn and tested in the laboratory by a team of qualified Chemists.

The Centre has one of the most sophisticated Quality Assurance laboratories in the world. In the laboratory modern scientific instruments like HPCL, UV electrophoto-meter, Gas Chromotograph, etc., are employed to conduct aflatoxin and curcumin analysis, piperine tests etc., while the analytical section handles determination of moisture content and other basic physical and chemical properties of spices and agro products such as total ash, volatile oil, starch, etc., The microbiological section analyses all products for their bacterial load and other microbial factors.

The Spices Centre achieved the distinction of being the first Spices Company in India to receive the ISO9002 Certification for While Spices. The factory at Cochin was awarded the ISO 9000 Certificate for Processing, Testing and Supply of Whole Black and White Pepper in February 1995.

Besides ensuring that quality standards are met during processing and packing of Pepper, the laboratory also tests other spices being exported by the Spices Division namely;

	Whole Spices like Turmeric Fingers, Chillies, Ginger, Cardamom, Nutmet and Spice Seeds like Coriander, Cumin, Fennel, etc.
	Spice Powders like Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder and Spice Mixes like Curry Powder, Garam Masala, etc. Raw material ingredients for these powders are carefully selected for processing and goods shipped only after strict quality control checks at every stage of manufacturing.
	We are developing out retail spice range and will shortly be in a position to offer Spices/Spice Powders in polyester poly pouches and duplex cartons of 100 and 200 gms nett.

Tata Tea along with its subsidiary Tata Coffee Ltd., perhaps is the largest pepper grower in India, with current annual production of over 1100 tons.