How to Export Cinnamon from India in 2026: Market Demand, Compliance & Verified Buyer Guide

2 0 2 6 E X P O R T G U I D E • M A R K E T D E M A N D & C O M P L I A N C E
How to Export Cinnamon
from India in 2026
Market Demand and Verified Buyer Guide
Compliance, Pricing & Verified International Buyers
4th
India'sglobal rank in whole cinnamon export value
$16.59M 89%
India'scinnamonexport value, 2025 (+22.8% YoY) OfIndia'sraw cinnamon imported from Vietnam

T H E B A S I C S
What Makes Cinnamon Different
Askmost buyers wherecinnamoncomes from,and SriLankaorVietnam comes up before India ever does — an accurate read of the
market, not a gap in awareness. India isn't a major cinnamon-growing origin.
What India has quietly built instead is something more specific: a processing and value-addition hub that takes in raw cassia bark,
mostly from Vietnam, and ships out crushed, ground, and blended cinnamon to a tight cluster of high-value buyers led by the United
States and Canada.
For exporters, this changes the entire pitch — the story to tell buyers is about processing quality, lab-tested compliance, and
packaging capability, not about India as a raw growing origin. For buyers, it means India is worth sourcing from for a specific reason:
consistent processing standards, not bulk raw supply.
Experts of Deals • expertsofdeals.com 02

W H E R E I N D I A S T A N D S
India's Rank Among Cinnamon Export Countries
India doesn't track true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) separately from
Tejpat (Cinnamomum tamala) — the two get lumped into one combined
category, and most of that combined output comes from West Bengal,
Uttarakhand, and Meghalaya, where Tejpat dominates.
True cinnamon cultivation exists in small pockets across the Western Ghats, but
it never scaled into the kind of commercial plantation system that made Sri
Lanka the reference name for Ceylon cinnamon, or that lets Vietnam and
Indonesia dominate the cassia trade.
GLOBAL RANKING
India's global rank for whole cinnamon, by
4th
export value —built almost entirely on re-
exporting processed cinnamon rather than
growing it. India imports far more cinnamon
than it exports.

W H Y I T M A T T E R S
The Processing Hub Story
89%
Of India's raw cinnamon imports come
from Vietnam alone
The high-value buyer cluster India's
processed cinnamon is built for
The pitch to buyers: quality, compliance,
and packaging capability
Canada & USA Processing, not
growing

B E F O R E Y O U E X P O R T
Mandatory Registrations to Export Cinnamon
CinnamonfallsunderthesameregulatoryumbrellaaseveryothernotifiedspiceinIndia,sotheregistration stack is identical to what any spice
exporter needs.
Registration
IEC (Import Export Code)
CRES (Certificate of
Registration as Exporter of
Spices)
FSSAI Central License
APEDA RCMC (for
processed/value-added
cinnamon)
GST Registration + LUT
APEDA
GST Portal
FSSAI via FoSCoS
Issuing Authority
DGFT
Spices Board of India
Free
Rs 5,000 + GST
Fee
Rs 500 one-time
Rs 7,500 + 18% GST/year
Rs 5,000 + 18% GST = Rs 5,900 3 years
5 years
1 to 5 years
Renewed yearly
Validity
Lifetime, annual update Apr-Jun
CRES doubles as the RCMC for spice exporters, so there's no separate application needed there. Fees get revised periodically — confirm current rates on
indianspices.org.in and foscos.fssai.gov.in before budgeting.

E V E R Y S H I P M E N T
Documents Required for Every Cinnamon Shipment
Registrations make you eligible to export. Documents are what get a specific shipment cleared through customs at both ends.
Health Certificate
Certificate of Origin
Phytosanitary Certificate
Certificate of Analysis (COA)
Commercial Invoice + Packing List Exporter
Destination-specific
NABL-accredited laboratory
Plant Quarantine Organization
Export Promotion Council / Chamber of
Commerce
Confirms Indian origin
Customs clearance record
Confirms microbial and chemical compliance
Confirms the consignment is pest and disease-free
Covers coumarin, moisture, heavy metals, pesticide
residue

C L A S S I F I C A T I O N & D U T Y
HS Codes, GST & Customs Duty
HS CODE 0906 DOMESTIC DUTY
Whole cinnamon: 090611 / 090619
Crushed or ground cinnamon: 090620
Cinnamon export from India runs under HS Code 0906.
Using the correct sub-code on every shipping document
matters — a mismatch is one of the more common
reasons shipments get held up at customs.
5%
30%
GST/IGSTunder India's domestic tariff structure
BasicCustomsDuty applied on cinnamon imports into India

T H E C O R E C O M P L I A N C E I S S U E
Why Coumarin Is the Single Biggest Compliance Issue
Cassia-type cinnamon — the kind India processes and re-exports, sourced largely
from Vietnam — naturally carries far higher coumarin levels than true Ceylon
cinnamon. That's not a small compliance footnote — it's a market where batch-level
coumarin testing through an NABL-accredited lab should be standard practice
before any quote goes out, and where cassia should never be marketed as Ceylon
cinnamon.
2025 EU TESTING STUDY
66%+
Of sampled cinnamon products either failed quality
standards, were suspected of fraud (cassia passed off
as Ceylon), or exceeded coumarin thresholds.

C O M P L I A N C E S N A P S H O T
What EU Cinnamon Buyers Require
LABELLING RULE
TESTING EXPECTATION
COUMARIN LIMIT — BAKERY
COUMARIN LIMIT — DESSERTS 5 mg/kg in finished food products
Cassia should never be marketed as Ceylon cinnamon
Up to 50 mg/kg for traditional bakery items labelled as containing cinnamon
Batch-level coumarin testing through an NABL-accredited lab before any quote
goes out

What USA Cinnamon Buyers Require
1
2
3
4 Microbial Testing
Salmonella testing in particular isn't optional here — it's routine.
Designated US Agent
A designated agent in the US is required, along with prior notice filed for every consignment.
FDA Food Facility Registration
Required before a shipment ever moves.
Foreign Supplier Verification Program
The US operates under FSVP — buyers require this framework before any shipment moves.

What UK and Canada Expect
UK CANADA
Aligned with EU standards India's largest crushed cinnamon buyer
The UK, post-Brexit, has kept its cinnamon import standards
aligned with EU-equivalent MRLs and coumarin rules, so
exporters can treat UK compliance the same way they treat EU
compliance.
Canada applies standard food-safety and labeling
requirements consistent with its broader spice-import
framework — less coumarin-specific scrutiny than the EU, but
still a market where documentation matters.

2 0 2 3 D A T A • W O R L D B A N K W I T S / U N C O M T R A D E
Top Buyers of Crushed Cinnamon from India

Top 10 Importers of Crushed Cinnamon — Full Data
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Country
Canada
United States
United Kingdom
Australia
South Africa
Italy
Turkey
Nigeria
Venezuela
Saudi Arabia
Export Value (USD)
$1,027,070
$851,850
$805,790
$434,330
$216,890
$198,550
$192,340
$78,120
$64,220
$61,640
Volume (Kg)
173,712
177,118
204,590
91,799
63,045
35,110
32,130
24,890
21,350
15,660
World Total: $4,324,150 across 918,243 kg

Global Whole Cinnamon Exporters Ranking

2 0 2 3 D A T A • U N C O M T R A D E
Where India Sources Its Raw Cinnamon

2 0 2 3 D A T A U N C O M T R A D E
•
India's Cinnamon Import Sources — Full Data
Rank
1 2
3 4
Source Country
Vietnam
Sri Lanka
Indonesia
China
India Total Imports: $111,380,000
Import Value (USD)
$100,000,000
$6,250,000
$2,210,000
$1,500,000
Share
89%
5.61%
1.98%
1.34%
Cinnamon importers in India — the businesses actually sourcing bark to process — pull overwhelmingly from one country. This raw-
material dependency is the other half of the processing-hub story.

T H E T R A D E B A L A N C E U N C O M T R A D E
•
5-Year Export vs Import Trend (2019-2023)
Year Export (USD)
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
$7.08M
$9.68M
$11.24M
$10.84M
$11.71M
Import (USD)
$85.95M
$108.49M
$109.26M
$112.95M
$111.38M
Net Trade
-$78.87M
-$98.81M
-$98.02M
-$102.11M
-$99.67M
Comparing these two figures makes the trade deficit clear — over five years, India has consistently imported nearly ten times more
cinnamon, by value, than it has exported.

T H E T R A D E B A L A N C E , V I S U A L I Z E D
India's Net Cinnamon Trade Position

T H E M O R E R E C E N T S I G N A L
2025 Momentum — India's Growth Story
The more recent signal points to real momentum. Even though India still held just a small slice of world market share in 2025, its
export value grew faster than most of the field — placing it among the fastest-growing cinnamon exporters globally that year.
$16.59M +22.8% 1.8%
India's cinnamon export value, 2025 Year-on-year growth in export value
India's share of the world cinnamon export
market

D O M E S T I C S U P P L Y • D A S D , G O V E R N M E N T O F I N D I A
India's Cinnamon/Tejpat Production (FY 2023-24)
Area
Yield
Metric
Production
Primary source states
2,315 kg/ha
4,986 tonnes
2,154 hectares
2023-24 (Final Estimates)
West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya
India has never published a separate production figure isolating true cinnamon bark from Tejpat — a genuine gap in official
statistics, and the clearest explanation for why the country leans so heavily on Vietnam for raw supply.

P R I C I N G
Cinnamon Price Snapshot (2025-2026)
Global wholesale price range (early 2026)
India domestic wholesale price (April 2025)
India export-linked wholesale price (Feb 2026)
₹575 per kg
$6.62 per kg
$2.75-$6.73 per kg
At $6.62 per kg, Indian cinnamon prices sit near the top of the global band — a reflection of processing and compliance costs layered onto
imported raw material, not a premium on origin the way Ceylon cinnamon commands.

P R I C I N G N U A N C E S
Sticks, Powder, Ceylon & Bulk — What Changes the Price
BULK VS RETAIL
CEYLON VS CASSIA
STICKS VS POWDER
PER-POUND CONVERSION
Cinnamon sticks carry lower processing costs, while ground cinnamon reflects the extra
grinding, testing, and packaging built into India's export mix.
Buyers working in imperial units should note that cinnamon price per pound runs roughly
45% of the per-kg figure.
Buyers sourcing in volume should request bulk price quotes directly from exporters — bulk
pricing can differ meaningfully from retail-level pricing.
Ceylon cinnamon price per kg typically sits well above cassia-based pricing, since true
Ceylon bark commands a premium for its low coumarin content and distinct flavor profile.

F I N D I N G B U Y E R S
Where to Find Verified Cinnamon Buyers
Most Indian cinnamon processors already have the certifications and processing capacity sorted. What's usually missing is visibility
— getting in front of buyers who are actively sourcing and want to see lab reports and compliance documentation before they'll
even start a conversation.
General directories are a fine starting point for discovery, but the label “verified” on any random
platform should be treated as a starting signal, not a guarantee.

T H E S O L U T I O N
How Experts of Deals Connects You With Verified Buyers
1
2
3
4
Exporters build a verified profile
Communication stays on-platform
Market reach extends beyond geography
Buyers connect directly with visible documentation
Search and connect with suppliers whose lab reports and compliance documentation are already visible, instead of sourcing through unknown
cold contacts.
Secure transaction systems protect business and financial data on both sides.
Bridging the language and process gaps that usually slow down cross-border spice trade.
Showcasing certifications, processing capacity, and product range, so buyers can evaluate legitimacy before reaching out.

T H E B I G G E R P I C T U R E
2026 Outlook for Cinnamon Exporters
The opportunity for Indian exporters in 2026 sits squarely in processing quality, not
cultivation scale. Investment in grinding and blending infrastructure, coumarin testing
capability, and clean FSSAI and NABL documentation is what wins business with EU and
US buyers — arguably more so in cinnamon than in almost any other Indian spice,
given how central coumarin compliance has become to the category.
“
For buyers, India remains a credible
secondary source for processed and
blended cinnamon rather than a primary
raw-bark origin.
With India's export value growing faster than
the global average, there's real margin available
for exporters willing to compete on compliance
and consistency rather than price alone.

W H O C A N B E N E F I T F R O M T H I S
Exporters and Buyers, Same Underlying Gap
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS
CINNAMON PROCESSORS
Certifications are ready. Visibility is the gap.
For exporters, the biggest cost in international cinnamon
trade is rarely the product — it's the time spent chasing
inquiries that never convert into real orders. Most Indian
processors already have the certifications and processing
capacity sorted.
The challenge rarely lies in finding a seller — it lies in
finding one whose credentials and coumarin test results
can actually be checked before a deal is made. That's
exactly the friction Experts of Deals is designed to remove.
Finding a seller is easy. Verifying one is not.

F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S
Cinnamon Export — Common Questions (1/2)
Q
Q
Q
Q
What is the HS code for cinnamon export from India?
Which countries import the most cinnamon from India?
Canada and the United States lead by a wide margin for crushed cinnamon, followed by the UK, Australia, and Turkey. For whole cinnamon,
India itself ranks fourth globally in export value.
Is India one of the largest cinnamon exporters in the world?
Not by raw volume or cultivation. Sri Lanka, China, and Indonesia dominate global cinnamon exports. India's strength is in processing and
re-exporting — it imports roughly 89% of its raw cinnamon from Vietnam.
Which registrations are mandatory to export cinnamon from India?
IEC from DGFT, CRES from the Spices Board, an FSSAI Central License, and GST registration with an LUT filed. APEDA RCMC isn't
mandatory but is strongly recommended for processed cinnamon.
HS code 0906 covers cinnamon exports — 090611/090619 for whole cinnamon and 090620 for crushed or ground cinnamon.

F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S
Cinnamon Export — Common Questions (2/2)
Q
Q
Q
Q
Is Indian cinnamon export growing?
Yes. Export value rose 22.8% in 2025 to $16.59 million, one of the fastest growth rates among global cinnamon exporters that year,
though India's overall share of the world market remains around 1.8%.
What is the current cinnamon price per kg?
Why do cinnamon shipments get rejected in the EU?
Coumarin content is the leading cause, followed by pesticide residue and mislabelling cassia as Ceylon cinnamon. A 2025 EU study
found over 66% of tested samples had some form of non-compliance.
How can I find verified cinnamon buyers without cold outreach?
A dedicated B2B platform where suppliers and buyers are checked upfront is generally more reliable than tracking down unknown
contacts. Experts of Deals is built for exactly this purpose.
As of early 2026, Indian export-linked cinnamon prices sit around $6.62 per kg, near the top of the global $2.75-$6.73 per kg range.

T H E T A K E A W A Y
Compete on Compliance and Consistency, Not Price
India's export value grew 22.8% in 2025 to $16.59M — real momentum, even with just 1.8% of world market share.
India ranks 4th globally in whole cinnamon export value — built on processing and re-exporting, not raw cultivation.
For processors and buyers looking to move past cold outreach, platforms like Experts of Deals provide the year-round,
verified connection.
Coumarin testing through an NABL-accredited lab is the single biggest compliance checkpoint for EU-bound shipments.
IEC, CRES, FSSAI, and GST+LUT are the mandatory registrations — APEDA RCMC is recommended for processed cinnamon.
89% of India's raw cinnamon comes from Vietnam; Canada and the USA are the leading buyers of India's crushed cinnamon.

Experts of deals
Meeting the Right Buyer Is Step One.
Staying Verified Is What Closes the Deal.
ExpertsofDealsconnectsverifiedIndian cinnamonexporterswith internationalbuyers—withcertifications, lab
reports, and processing capacity visible upfront.
WEBSITE EMAIL CALL / WHATSAPP
expertsofdeals.com support@expertsofdeals.com +91 70541 43838
Source: UN Comtrade, World Bank WITS, ITC Trade Map, Spices Board of India, DASD, and BfR/EFSA coumarin guidance. 2026 figures are partial-
year only.

How to Export Cinnamon from India in 2026: Market Demand, Compliance & Verified Buyer Guide

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