Green Cardamom from India: What Buyers Should Check Before Importing

Cardamom is graded primarily by pod size, measured in millimetres, because size correlates closely with maturity, oil content and market value — larger, bolder pods generally command a premium over smaller ones from the same harvest. A specification that just says “good quality cardamom” without a size range (for example, 6mm–8mm, or 8mm and above) isn't a specification a buyer can act on.

Ask for the size grade as a millimetre range, and treat a supplier who can't give you one as a sign the lot hasn't actually been sieved and graded — mixed-size lots trade at a discount for a reason.

Alongside size, colour is a primary indicator of how carefully a lot was dried and cured. Well-processed green cardamom keeps a natural, even green colour; pods that are pale, yellowish, or blotchy usually indicate poor drying conditions, prolonged storage, or exposure to heat and light that has also degraded the volatile oil inside. Colour and aroma degrade together — a faded pod is rarely still a fragrant one.

If you're evaluating a sample, colour uniformity across the batch is worth checking as closely as the average size — a batch that is nominally the right grade but visibly inconsistent in colour is a sign of poor sorting further up the supply chain.

• Whole pods hold their volatile oil far longer than either seeds or powder, since the outer husk protects the aromatic compounds inside — this is the standard form for buyers who will decorticate or grind closer to end use.
• Cardamom seeds (decorticated from the pod) are used where the husk isn't wanted, but lose aroma faster once removed from the pod's protection — ask about time since decortication, not just harvest date.
• Ground cardamom powder has the shortest effective shelf life of the three forms and is the most exposed to moisture and oxidation — if you're importing powder, ask for the milling date and how it's been stored since.

Cardamom loses aroma faster than most other spices when exposed to heat, light, or extended storage, which makes storage conditions during transit and after arrival a genuine quality variable, not just a formality. Ask your supplier how the lot has been stored prior to shipment, and plan your own warehousing — cool, dark, and low-humidity — accordingly once it lands.

Cardamom is typically packed in retail pouches for smaller trial orders and poly-lined cartons or PP bags for bulk volumes, with a first order in the range of 50 kg being a common indicative starting point — lower than many other spices, reflecting cardamom's higher per-kg value. See our MOQ and container load guide for how this scales toward a full container.