Direct from Idukki: How We Source Cardamom from Grower Cooperatives

A lot of wholesale cardamom passes through two or three traders before a buyer ever sees it. Each one takes a margin, and each handoff makes it harder to answer a simple question: where did this lot actually come from? Here's how we work.

The middleman problem

A typical wholesale lot is picked on a high-range farm, sold at auction or to an aggregator, mixed with lots from other farms, and sold on. By the end, "Idukki cardamom" on an invoice can mean many things, and few people in the chain can tell you when or where it was picked.

Our model: we grow it

Pure Leven is a farming family in Rajakumari, in the Idukki high ranges, with about 30 years of farming behind us. Our farm started with black pepper and moved to cardamom over the years; we've told that story here. We pick, dry in a cardamom dryer, sort and grade ourselves. For larger volumes we buy from neighbouring high-range farms we've known for years.

What that means for a wholesale buyer

• Fewer hands in between: you buy from the people who grow and grade the cardamom.
• Origin you can ask about: we can tell you where and roughly when your lot was picked.
• Careful grading: we sort by size and remove hollow, immature and damaged pods by hand.
• A person to talk to: the person quoting you is the person responsible for the lot.

What we don't offer yet

We don't currently provide lab test reports with bulk orders, and we don't have a fixed volume-discount table. Pricing for bulk orders is quoted per order, based on grade, quantity and that week's market. If you need specific testing for your business, tell us and we'll discuss what's possible.

The farms around us

Buying from neighbours is how high-range farming has always worked. These are small, shade-grown family plots, and selling direct rather than only through auction helps keep more of the value in the village.

Ready to talk? WhatsApp us or email purelevenexim@gmail.com.