Sustainable Spice Conference

On 12 October 2010, KIT hosted a conference on sustainability in the spice trade. The conference brought together over 140 people from around the world, including Dutch importers, retailers and processors as well as farmers’ organizations and exporters from countries such as India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Uganda and Vietnam. The aim of the conference was to give momentum to an initiative by the Dutch Spice Association to make the Dutch spice sector sustainable.

• Introduction
• Programme
• Break-out sessions
• Dossier

Introduction

Consumers and food industry professionals alike demand high quality, traceable and sustainable ingredients. What does that mean for spices - a tiny fraction of most food products? What are the opportunities for sustainable spices? What joint investments are needed? How can farmers and small businesses meet sustainable certification requirements? 

Some companies in the spice sector are already working towards greater sustainability, and momentum is building for a sector-wide sustainability programme, which will make a difference on a large scale. On Tuesday 12 October, experiences with sustainability were discussed and opportunities for mainstream upscaling explored during an afternoon conference at the Royal Tropical Institute, together with spice producers, importers, retailers, farmers’ organizations and exporters from Vietnam, Uganda, India, Indonesia and Mozambique.

Programme

The afternoon began with a number of plenary presentations, followed by break-out sessions in small groups. View the conference programme here.

Break-out sessions

Break-out sessions were organized in five areas: 1) farm production, 2) spice trade, 3) food industry and retail, 4) from regulation to certification and 5) managing chain partnerships. View background reading for the break-out sessions.

Dossier

KIT has developed a digital dossier with background reading material and related websites for the Sustainable Spice Conference. See the Dossier: Sustainable spices.

Could you pass me the sustainable pepper, please?  This report by Both Ends, Cordaid and CREM provides key findings and sector recommendations for a sustainable spices supply chain.

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The Sustainable Spice Conference was an initiative of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) together with the Dutch Spice Trade Association (NVS) and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), as well as Both Ends, Cordaid and CREM. This event was on of several events marking KIT's centennial anniversary.