Cardamom Process

The sowing process is carried out in the intermediate season between summer and winter, it must be in warm humid soil and the conditions of the land must be mountainous and the plantation must have the respective shade so that the plant is protected and can develop in the best way.  Green Cardamom is only able to thrive in very few areas of the world, where specific climatic conditions and high altitudes are present.

Depending on the development of the plantation, after two years the production trial begins with peak ripening months from September to March.

Harvesting at the correct stage of maturity is essential to produce high quality cardamom. The harvesting process is a subtle yet labor-intensive hand picking process. Once the raw Cardamom pods are mature, highly skilled and experienced workers start to pluck them by hand.

Within hours of harvesting the raw Cardamom pods, these need to be delivered for the drying process, which takes several hours. Drying is one of the most important parts of the process as it impacts the quality of the final product. This process needs to be performed in a timely manner as a delay can cause the pods to lose their flavor. Drying can be carried out in different ways, with the main ones being: drying with firewood or gas drying. This process can be carried out in piles of 30 to 45 kilograms. This process generally takes around 36 hours for each pile.

Cardamom is graded by color, weight and size. The deeper the green color and the larger the capsule size, the higher the grade. Grading can be done by hand, by high skilled and experienced experts, or by high-tech machinery.

Because of the high value of cardamom, it is predominantly packaged in double-layered bags and transported in boxes. Premium grades from Guatemala are shipped in 5 kgs cartons, 8 of these cartons, in turn, make up a master carton of 40 kgs.