Cardamom

Photo Source:  Spice of Life

Guatemala is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of cardamom.  The miniscule seeds of the plant are highly aromatic and valued as a spice in the Middle East, Russia, and Scandinavia.  Most of Guatemala’s crop is exported to the Arabian Gulf countries, where the use of the spice is considered to be a hallmark of hospitality.  In the Middle East, cardamom pods are either ground into a powder and used as an additive for coffee, or they are ground up with the coffee beans and brewed together (Guatemala Times).  Guatemala is one of the world’s major producers of coffee, and yet Guatemalans do not mix cardamom with their coffee.  Cardamom is strictly an export crop. 

70% of Guatemala’s cardamom crop is grown by small producers on less than 10 acres of land (Saudi Aramco). The plant thrives in the in the moist Guatemalan climate, but is not native to the Americas.  German plantation owner, Oscar Majus brought the first plants from India to Guatemala in 1914 (Guatemala Times). 

Guatemalan women and children sort through the harvested seed pods in large warehouses for less than $4 per day.  It takes one cardamom plant 3 years of growth before it begins to produce seed pods. Thereafter, the plant produces for another 4 to 6 years before it begins to decline.  The harvested seeds are so tiny that it takes 4 pods to equal one quarter teaspoon of seeds. That is why the spice commands such high prices in the global marketplace.  In 2007, the revenues from cardamom exceeded 137 million US dollars (Saudi Aramco).