About
Spicekada.in, which has been operating since March 2016, is a small family business assisted by a couple of employees. he word kada means shop in Malayalam, and is normally used to describe a small, unassuming and unimposing shop selling simple items.
The core motif of spicekada.in is to support the families that rely on farming as well as business. With the ample aid of the location and contact with farmers, we have attained a unique position by offering high quality products at genuine prices.
We have a few principles that guide our business:
First, our main products are grown or produced in the Cardamom Hills of Kerala. Products that haven’t been grown locally will be clearly labelled as so on the product pages.
Second, we strive to sell products that are of the highest quality. This is not difficult when it comes to, for instance, cardamom, pepper and vanilla, but when it comes to, for instance, coffee production, the Cardamom Hills is not the optimum location. To compensate for this, we put a lot of work into finding the best locally produced coffee, and we are associated with a coffee roaster who appreciates the quality of a good roast.
Third, we don’t use middlemen which means we can offer the products at a lower price than most other online shops. It is, of course, difficult to compare non-standardised products that are sold online. For instance, some online shops are selling Vietnamese pepper which is cheaper and of lower quality than our Kerala pepper. So, on the rare occasion where one of our products is more expensive than a competitor’s, this could be the explanation.
Fourth, we don’t pressurise our suppliers to deliver their products at a lower rate. We believe in everyone getting a fair deal.
Fifth, we would like to offer certified organic produce, but truly organically grown products are a rarity because the spice, tea and coffee producers in Kerala generally use various insecticides and weed killers. And when someone does attempt to grow organically, there is a high risk of contamination from neighbouring farms.