Sourcing Guide
✦An origin comparison for importers weighing Intensive Green against Mysore and Coorg grades — oil content, colour retention, sizing, volatility and freight.
Guatemala and India together supply most of the world's green cardamom, yet they serve different buyers for different reasons.
Guatemala is an export origin: domestic consumption is negligible, so almost the entire Alta Verapaz harvest leaves the country and is graded for foreign specifications. India is a consumption origin: a deep domestic masala and beverage market competes with exporters for the same lots. That single structural difference explains most of what buyers notice in price, availability and grade language.
The table below sets our Intensive Green grades against the Indian Mysore and Coorg families on the parameters commercial buyers actually contract on.
| Parameter | Guatemala · Intensive Green | India · Mysore / Coorg |
|---|---|---|
| Trade grades | Intensive Green Jumbo/XL (8 mm+), Large 7–8 mm, Medium 6–7 mm, Mixed, Decorticated Seeds | Mysore & Coorg (Alleppey Green Extra Bold / AGEB, Bold, Superior) |
| Volatile (essential) oil | 6–8% typical on whole green pods; 7–9% on decorticated seeds | 6–8% on Alleppey grades, often higher camphor character |
| Colour & colour retention | Deep intensive green, sun- and mechanically cured for slow fade in storage | Green to yellow-green; Alleppey grades commonly colour-treated for uniformity |
| Flavour profile | Clean eucalyptus-citrus top note, moderate camphor — favoured by Gulf spice houses and gin distillers | Heavier camphor and cineole depth — favoured in Indian masala blends and oleoresin |
| Sizing consistency | Calibrated mesh sizing per AGEXPORT / ISO 882-1, triple-pass hand sorting | Sieve-graded; grade names vary by auction centre and exporter |
| Harvest window | October to March (Alta Verapaz highlands) | August to February (Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu) |
| Price volatility | Follows export auction demand from the Gulf; lower domestic-consumption pressure | Strong domestic demand absorbs volume, tightening exportable surplus and lifting spot swings |
| Export logistics | FOB Puerto Quetzal / Santo Tomás de Castilla — short transit to North America and Europe | FOB Cochin / Tuticorin — shorter transit to the Gulf and Southeast Asia |
| Documentation | Phytosanitary, certificate of origin, SGS on request, EUDR-ready dossier | Spices Board India certification plus phytosanitary and origin documents |
Next step
Order the buyer sample box and put our pods on your own bench — sieve them, test oil content and compare colour retention against the lot you buy today.