Ceylon Desk

Commodities Desk

Ceylon cinnamon, traced to the estate and tested lot by lot.

We buy from Sri Lankan producers we visit, match the grade and form to your specification, and ship each lot with an accredited laboratory’s certificate of analysis, coumarin included.

PGI-certified and single-estate supply, and botanical identity testing, on request. Our sourcing starts in the supplier network of our sister company, Sillara Agri Tech.

Request specifications and samplesWhat we supply

Cross-sections of Ceylon cinnamon and cassia Schematic, not to scale. The Ceylon quill is many paper-thin layers of inner bark rolled one inside another. The cassia stick is a single thick layer of bark curled in from the edges, hollow in the middle. Ceylon cinnamon Cinnamomum verum Paper-thin layers, rolled together Cassia Cinnamomum cassia and others One thick layer of bark, hollow
Schematic cross-sections, not to scale.

Coumarin limits leave very little room.

Cassia averages about 3,000 mg of coumarin per kilo. The EU’s limits apply to finished foods rather than to cinnamon sold as a spice: 15 mg/kg in fine bakery wares, for example. A cassia recipe reaches that limit at about half a per cent cinnamon. Ceylon bark contains only traces.

That is why every certificate we send states the coumarin figure for the lot, so your quality team can sign it off against the recipe. Coumarin alone does not prove a lot is Ceylon, so we add a botanical identity test when you need one.

Sources: BfR, coumarin in cinnamon, Regulation (EC) 1334/2008, Annex III, Wang et al., 2013

Cassia in the recipe at which the EU limit is reached

Cassia share of a recipe that reaches the EU coumarin limit With cassia at about 3,000 mg/kg of coumarin: desserts reach the 5 mg/kg limit at 0.17% cassia; fine bakery wares reach 15 mg/kg at 0.5%; breakfast cereals reach 20 mg/kg at 0.67%; traditional or seasonal bakery reaches 50 mg/kg at 1.67%. Desserts EU limit 5 mg/kg 0.17% Fine bakery wares EU limit 15 mg/kg 0.5% Breakfast cereals, muesli EU limit 20 mg/kg 0.67% Traditional or seasonal bakery with cinnamon on the label EU limit 50 mg/kg 1.67% 0% 0.5% 1% 1.5% 2% of the recipe
At 3,000 mg/kg coumarin in the cassia. Coumarin from other ingredients ignored.

Two more reasons buyers are going to the source

Four in 44 “Ceylon” samples were not.

In a 2025 study by the EU’s Joint Research Centre, 4 of the 44 samples sold as Ceylon cinnamon were partly or wholly cassia. Across all 104 samples it bought from retailers, more than two-thirds raised quality, safety or authenticity concerns.

Source: EU Joint Research Centre

Every lot we ship has its own certificate of analysis from an accredited laboratory, tied to its lot number, with identity testing when you need it.

Supply is tight.

Alba reached a record Rs 7,500 a kilo at the farm gate in July 2026, and a shortage of skilled peelers is holding back output.

Source: Daily Mirror, July 2026

We agree volumes with producers before the season, so your grades are set aside rather than found at the last minute.

What we supply

Core products we quote and ship regularly, and products we source to order through producers and exporters we work with.

Core products

Ceylon cinnamon
Quills graded to SLS 81, the Sri Lankan standard: Alba; Continental C5 Special, C5 and C4; Mexican M5 and M4; Hamburg H1 and H2. Quillings, featherings and chips for grinding and extraction. Cuts and powder to your mesh, steam-sterilised on request.
Spices
Black pepper, cloves, nutmeg and mace, graded to your specification.
Coconut products
Desiccated coconut (fine, medium and chips; high or reduced fat), coconut milk and cream, virgin coconut oil.
Activated carbon
Coconut-shell granular and powdered grades, specified by iodine number, CTC activity, hardness, mesh size and ash, for water treatment, gold recovery, and air and gas purification.

Sourced on request

Fresh fruit and vegetables
Through Sri Lankan exporters already shipping fresh produce abroad, with phytosanitary certificates and refrigerated shipment.
Other spices and herbs
Cardamom, turmeric, ginger and others, to your grade and residue limits.
Processed and value-added foods
Dried, frozen, canned and packaged products from Sri Lankan manufacturers, in your pack or private label.
Something else
Send the specification. We will establish availability, quality and price with producers, and tell you plainly if it cannot be done to spec.

With every lot

Certificate of analysis from an accredited laboratory (for cinnamon: coumarin, moisture, volatile oil, ash, microbiology and pesticide residues), phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin. Quoted FOB Colombo, or CFR and CIF to your port. Payment by letter of credit or agreed terms.

Sourcing beyond the export catalogue

Our sister company, Sillara Agri Tech, buys every day for restaurants and commercial kitchens in Colombo, from a network of Sri Lankan farmers, suppliers and manufacturers. That network, and the exporters it connects us with, is where we start when a buyer needs something specific.

You deal with one desk. We find the producers, compare them on quality and price, and check their documents against your contract before anything ships.

Sri Lanka is where these come from

80–90%

Estimated share of the world’s true cinnamon grown in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Cinnamon has been a protected geographical indication in the EU since 2022.

Sources: Daily FT, August 2025, CBI

55,404 t

Coconut-shell activated carbon exported from Sri Lanka in 2025, worth about US$199 million.

Source: International Coconut Community, April 2026

How a first order works

  1. Your specification

    Grade and form, limits for coumarin, moisture and residues, the certificates you need, volume, destination and Incoterm.

  2. Lot-coded samples

    From shortlisted producers, each with its technical data sheet and certificate of analysis. A sample represents its lot, never better.

  3. A pilot shipment

    An independent surveyor inspects before loading, and we check every producer document against your contract.

  4. Contracted supply

    Volumes agreed with producers for the season, with the same checks on every lot.

Send us your specification.

Product, grade, volume and destination port are enough to start. We reply within one working day, Colombo time, or call +94 76 968 2624.

Request specifications and samples