Summary of Spices: History and Tragedy

Transcription

IINNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALL Spices CCOONNFFEERREENNCCEE
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SUMMARY OF SPICES :
HISTORY AND TRAGEDY
Prof. Dr. Toeti Heraty Noerhadi-Roosseno
International Spices Conference
19-21 August 2013
Ambon-Maluku-Indonesia
Abstract (i)
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Revitalization of Spices Quality and Production In The Perspective of Sustainability
and Environmental Responsibility
Abstract (ii)
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The Nutmeg Plant
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The Clove Tree
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Spices : History and Tragedy
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Columbus Assumption's on The Route to The
Orient via Atlantic & Indian Oceans
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Vasco da Gama's Route
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Magellan's Route
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Family Tree of Boki Raja
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Amboyna Massacre
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Sir Francis Drake arrives at Ternate
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Alfred Russel Wallace
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SPICES
History and Tragedy
Toeti Heraty Noerhadi-Roosseno
International Spices Conference
19-21 August 2013
Ambon-Maluku-Indonesia
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SPICES : History and Tragedy
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It is now time to think back to the beginning of recorded history to the time of the pharaoh’s in Egypt to the body of Ramses II to be sacred in his sarcophagus. While man may be eternal, his
corps has a finite expiration date, and aromatics are needed: incense and spices from the spice
islands. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned 3 grades of mummification the most expensive
used a variety of spices.
In the ancient Greek tale of the Trojan war, Aphrodite the goddess of love, saved Paris from
death returning him to earth with the fragrant scent of incense and rubbing the corpse of Hector
with oil. Later on in the Jewish tradition, the body of Christ was wrapped in linen and aromated
with spices and whose fragrant smell became a trait of the holiness of his spirit, a convincing sign
of his rise from the dead as a sign of eternal life in heaven. Fragrant smell of spices became a
symbol of paradise.
2
Recorded by history, are the three names of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and
Ferdinand Magellan to have crossed the world’s oceans in search of the source of spices. Not knowing their land of origin or even what the plants look like these three men, with unfettered
imagination, embarked on a search for wealth, fame and prestige.
An audience gathered in Barcelona, before the Spanish king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella,
and high ministers, in rich apparel, appeared in the Salo’ de Tinell in Barcelona, that grandest of banquet halls in the Middle Ages, to show their respect and to greet the return of the heroic
adventurer who was expected to be bringing with him spices directly from the Far East,
bypassing the intermediary markets of Venice, Bruges, and London, seeking a shortcut to the
East by sailing West, for wasn’t the world round, and couldn’t the Orient be reached by circling
the globe from the West, something man had not tried before. Columbus journey was relatively
brief, with the discovery of America after thirty days after departure arriving home in April 1493
bringing gold, slaves and cockatoos but a disappointing amount of spices : his excuse was the
wrong season before harvest time.
3
In September the same year in impatience a second expedition set sail, with 17 ships and hundred
of crew members. Herman Cortez conquered the Aztecs and made a gift of Montezuma’s gold to the Spanish king and in his fifth letter to the king, dating from the year 1526 yet again
promised to discover the source of spices, while begging for the king’s patience. And though he did find vanilla and Jamaican chili, as well as tobacco, corn, potatoes, cacao, and tomatoes, in a
completely new world , unexpected riches, he nonetheless failed completely in his search for
spices.
Then five years later on July 18, 1497, 4 ships Vasco da Gama from Portugal left sailing
southwards for the Indian Ocean and arrived 10 months later in Malabar on the Indian Coast and
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found it to be the center for the trade of spices which for centuries had been transported by
muslim trade from Malabar coast to Venice. The Portuguese began their imperium of the spice
trade.
Trade continued and Vasco da Gama returned with the cargo he desired as well as the surprising
belief that India’s polytheism was a form of the Christian religion’s holy trinity and pledges to return forthwith, to multiply his profits Vasco da Gama’s investment, with its one hundred percent returning made king Manuel I sent Pedro Alvares Cabral, who set off with 13 (thirteen)
ships and a thousand strong crew. Artillery finally settled the issue, and with the Zamorin. The
king of Calicut having evacuated muslim traders were hanged, burned alive and their ships blown
out of the water. With ignorance, greed, cruelty and guns as their working capital, the Potuguese
began first European imperium in Asia which went onto last for more than a century.
4
But was’nt the source of spices much farther to the East, reached only via a mysterious route, whose secret came to be revealed only after fall of Mallaca, in 1511 to Portuguese hands.
Because even with a map adorned with Javanese script, the help of local ships captains was still
needed for how else was one to find two small islands among the 16.000 scattered far and wide
across the equator? Ternate Island, with ten kilometers of coast line, and in its center, Mount
Gamalama, a volcano 1,730 meters in height , had few places to set shore. Tidore, with fifteen
kilometers of coast and a 1,721 meter volcano, was similar.
The first expedition to the Molucas did not take place until 1511, In December of that year,
Antonio de Abreu set off with three ships but returned from Banda with two, both stuffed full of
nutmeg and mace. Serao was left behind in Banda and arrived later in 1512 in Ternate where he
built a fort and appointed advisor to the king for his service in defeating Tidore and brought the
Sultan of Ternate a young bride, Boki Raja, the daughter of the Sultan of Tidore.
The competition between Portugal and Spain, between King Manuel I of Portugal and the king
and queen of Spain had to be settled by the Vatican, supreme arbiter of material and spiritual
matters through the Tordesilla Treaty of June 7, 1494 whereby the world was divided in two,
with lands west of a longitudinal divide given over to the authority of Spain and those to the east,
towards India, placed under dominion of Portugal with all local authorities ignored, no party to
the bargain at all.
5
But the Portuguese Ferdinand Magelan who had once accompanied leading a Serrao, who stayed
in Ternate intended to follow the latters trail, but with a Spanish expedition instead leaving in
1519 with 270 crewmen in ships arriving at the Philippines on September 1521 where Magelan
was killed and his Spanish crew finally reaching Tidore after a 25 months of voyage. Only one
ship returned, the Victoria, with only 18 of the 270 crew left but laden with 381 bags of cloves,
more than enough to repary the cost of the incredible journey of 3 years navigating the globe, and
instead of Magelan, Elcano was knighted by the king of Spain, awarded a coat of arms. While
Magelan was remembered to cheat Portuguese for a Spanish expedition.
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Henceforth, Portugal held authority in Ternate and Spain ruled Tidore. In the end, the matter was
settled with the Saragoza Treaty of 1529 whereby the King of Spain sold his rights to the
Portuguese for the price of 350.000 ducats, the very amount needed to pay for the ceremonies of
his forthcoming marriage. But if one is speaking of the conquistadors of the 15th century or of
Vasco da Gama, in particular, and his dealings with Muslim traders, one should also mention the
role of a Muslim traveler from the 14th century, a man by the name of Ibn Battuta who lived
1304-1368 who left Algiers, Morocco on July 14, 1325.
6
That in the middle ages, Islam was a n egalitarian faith whose social and cultural orientation was
universal in nature is proven by a Chinese Muslim, a eunuch, the naval commander, Cheng Ho
who lived from 1371 from 1371 to 1433 who met his death on his seventh voyage back from
Calicut, for twenty eight years commanding a huge armada for the purpose of promoting
friendship and make note of comparison between the conquistador of the Middle Age :
CHENG HO first set sail in Commanding 200 ships
1405, Chinese Muslim
Largest ship 2500 dry weight
tons
CHRISTOPHER
Commanding 3 ships
COLUMBUS first set sail in Largest ship 100 tons
1492, Spanish expedition
27,800 crew members
VASCO DA GAMA first set Commanding 4 ships
sail in 1497, Portuguese first Largest ship 120 tons
expedition
171 crew members
Arriving at Malabar Indian
coast
88 crew members
Arriving in America
Navigating a few months
ANTONIO de AUBREU
FRANCISCO SERRAO
Leaving December 1511 from
Malacca
FERNDINAND MAGELAN
first set sail in 1519,
Portuguese
with
Spanish
expedition
Commanding 3 ships;
Arriving in Banda
2 ships full spices back to Leaving Serrao in Banda and
Malacca
Ternate 1512
Commanding 5 ships
Largest ship 130 tons
270 crew members, 18
remaining, navigating around
the globe for 3 years. Arriving
in the Philipines, Tidore, back
to Lissabon, 1521
FRANCIS DRAKE
British admiral
The golden Hind
Arriving in Ternate 1579
Navigating around the globe,
treaty for 20 years with Sultan
Babullah
And so it was that in the first part of the 15th century Cheng Ho was made an admiral and ordered
to sail the Western Sea for the purpose of promoting friendship and establishing trade ties
between China and foreign countries.
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Cheng Ho armada brought with it silks, embroidery, porcelain, gold, silver, bronze, metal objects
with which to pray and to cook as well as tea, rice, soybean, oranges, camphor, and other items.
Items that Cheng Ho;s armada brought back to China included pearls, crystal, leopards, medicinal
materials, such as cloves, incense, rhinoceros horns, deer horns, aromatic oils, spices such as
pepper, various kind of cloth, wood, and other wares.
Both Ibn Battuta and Cheng Ho became Muslim travelers whose adventures were undertaken in
peace and friendship a situation different from their Western counterparts who came with the
goal of profit and monopolistic ambitions in mind which resulted in suppression and cruekty.
While Battuta made use of the opportunities that polygamy presented, for Cheng Ho, a eunuch,
the spiritual dimension was more significant.
7
When the Portuguese arrived in Mollucan waters in 1512 Ternate had already been a Muslim
kingdom for thirty years, in 1495 Kolano Zainal Abidin had even ventured to Girl on Java’s north coast where he had further studied Islam and investigated the organization and administration of
the Javanese courts. His crown then passed to Kolano Bayanullah who as Zainal Abidin’s successor maintained the Muslim sultanate and hearing the news that Portuguese ships had gotten
lost in Hitu, invited Serrao to come to Ternate with his ship and to settle there and so began the
history of the Portuguese in the Moluccas.
A princess was born in the Sultanate of Tidore the year not known with certainty but before the
1500 AD, most likely and her name was forgotten by history, but who was it that recorded
history. Mention of the princess first appeared in a letter penned by the Portuguese Governor
Antonio de Brito which he sent to his king, Manuel I in the year 1523 concerning his meeting
with the queen to the Sultan of Ternate and regent of Boheyat, her son, who became crown prince
at the age of eight, referring to her as the most powerful woman in the kingdom. Ruy Gago, in a
later document called her Rainha, queen and wife of the late Sultan of Ternate and also the
daughter of the Kolano Al Mansur, Sultan of Tidore, who, because of Francisco Serrao, the
Portuguese explorer who conquered Tidore with a Ternate fleet, became the price of peace
between the kingdoms, with the Portuguese serving as liaison.
8
One should know there were four kingdoms in the Moluccas: Ternate, Tidore, Bacan, and Jailolo,
each one competing with the other even though their rulers would marry off their daughters to
rivals to ensure that royal bloodlines were maintained.
Something truly extraordinary happened when the sultan, in his final testament, entrusted his
earthly powers to his queen, instructing her to fulfill his vow of completing construction of the
Portuguese fort then being built under the direction of Francisco Serrao, adviser to the king, who
also died from poisoning that same month.
Ternate, the smallest of the four kingdoms, but the one with most ambition, proposed in 1514
that the kingdom become a protectorate of Portugal, beneath Portuguese sovereignity, the only
requirement being that it be the sole power in the region, with the authority to rule the other three
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kingdoms and so it was that Francisco Serrao was invited to serve as adviser to the sultan and
became directly involved in matters of war, marriage and royal succession.
After being widowed, Rainha, the queen was well aware of the tenuousness of her position
among the palace royals, chief among them Taruwese, the sultan’s representative who felt his power had been usurped, and who was under pressure from the Portuguese to finish construction
of the fort, a situation that angered her father, Sultan of Tidore, who perceived the fort as yet
another threat and thus urged the Spanish, foes of the Portuguese, to support Tidore, and so it was
that when her guard was down, the queen’s two sons were detained along with several followers in the still unfinished fort, all the result of royal family intrigue, no doubt,
9
Boki Raja fled to Tidore, realizing that Taruwese was in collusion with the Portuguese, who
themselves were relieved to see that she had been eliminated, but knowing that the fort would
soon be finished she knew she had to return and in order to ensure the safety of her two sons by
Bayanullah, proposed marriage to Taruwese who not only refused her offer but accused her of
sexual indiscretion with Kaicil Latu, a close relative, Tension between Ternate, Tidore and the
Portuguese peaked and Antonio de Brito, Serrao’s replacement (who also dead from poisoning)
threw up his hands, asking to be replaced, and in 1524 Garcia Henrique at last convinced both
kingdoms to cease conflict and lay down their arms.
For Boki Raja, the time was one of personal misfortune; first her father Kolano Al Mansur of
Tidore, died from poisoning in 1526 and then she, now widowed and fatherless, was struck
another blow when her son, crown prince Boheyat, who was being held in detention by the
Portuguese, also dead from poisoning by his own uncle’s hand. Ternate and Tidore went to war again and Jorge de Menezes, the Portuguese governor of Ternate, infamous for his cruelty,
assumed the title of military commander as well and Kaicil Darwis, the queen’s brother in law, who protested the man’s cruel methods, was sentenced to death by beheading, yet it was at this
moment that Boki Raja rose to demonstrate her defense of the entire kingdom.
Boki raja’s ministers and the general populace unanimously supported her and in 1530 she with a sad heart but her spirit blazing and her mind completely focused, led them to surround the fort.
The governor, Gonzales Pereira, was killed bu his own men, but when the Portuguese still
refused to surrender Boki Raja’s two sons, a total blocade was put in place. The kolano were one
at was, and the four Moluccan kingdoms united so as not to allow the fort from obtaining any
provisions of food until Boki raja’s demand were met, although trade facilities continued because trade in spice, no matter what, was of upmost importance.
10
In the region of Ternate life began to regain its calm following Boki Raja’s victory, mention of which was overlooked in Goa’s books, for the shame of having been defeated by a woman, perhaps. Boki Raja had now remarried, this time to Jogugu Pati Sarangi, and with him at her side
the sultanate and kingdom regained its harmony a situation that lasted for quite some time as
Boki raja waited until Tabaridji, he son by Pati Sarangi, was of sufficient age to take the throne.
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Her second son, Deyalo, was cery handsome but had a roving eye and during his three years as
sultan had proven unable to be relied on.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese deployed a new strategy and in 1535, by treacherous ruse, Boki raja,
Pati Sarangi, and Tabaridji were arrested and exiled to Goa, their hands in manacles, creating
unrest throughout the archipelago and causing people from far and wide to rise up which led to
the collapse of the Portuguese, who had played off one party against another, even their closest
allies, thereby making themselves the common enemy, even as the trade in spices opened the
eyes of the rest of the world and other parties began to intervene, of which more will be spoken
of later.
About the life of Boki Raja’s family during their exile in goa very little is known except that in
1537 crown prince Tabaridji was baptized and his name changed to Dom Manuel, his mother not
attempting to prevent his change of religion, from the loss of hope, perhaps, that they would ever
return to their beloved land. But in 1542 fate changed course, they were permitted to return to
Ternate and rehabilitated their name, but when passing through Malacca on their way home they
met Chairun, half brother of Tabaridji, and catastrophe befell them Tabaridji was poisoned
authority over sultanate by the Portuguese king.
11
Boki Raja returned, her heart broken by the loss of her sons, to rule in the name of the sovereign
king of Portugal, but then in 1547 Chairun returned to claim the throne and soon thereafter
confiscated his stepmother’s entire wealth leaving her with no property of her own, to be taken in by her stepdaughter Donna Catarina, who had married a Portuguese trader, Balthazar Velozo, and
in this Mestizo family, Boki Raja found peace of mind, was baptized by the fame missionary
Frances Xavier, and change her name to Dona Isabel but it is not known when she died, this jihad
commander her own country had already been forgotten.
In 1549 Chaierun became pledged his fealty to the king of Portugal as ruler of a Christian
sultanate in return for Portuguese assistance in subjugating the other sultans but then Tabaridji’s will was declared null and void and Ternate became an Islamic sultanate once more and reigned
for 35 years. In the late 16th century Ternate was at the height of its glory which is when the
Dutch arrived, in 1599 to build a seaport there, but on April 16, 1601, the Spanish attacked the
fort in Ternate.
History above indicates that Rainha Boki Raja’s life story is not a happy one. This was especially so after 1538 when fate completely turned against her and she found herself without the power to
face resistance to her continued rule from both internal and external forces. Even though for the
previous fifteen years when she had played a central role in the political life of the North
Moluccas, after 1538 she was shunted first to the side by domestic political players and then
finally out of power by the Portuguese. After 1548 Portuguese sources do not mention her again.
12
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But the tragedy continued, following her successor Chairun and his son Babullah, at the peak of
Ternate glory. Boki Raja, daughter of the sultan of Tidore and consort to the Sultan of Ternate,
was the mother of three successive sultans whose live ended young in tragedy. But then, the
mother of Chairun, the next Sultan, could prevent neither her son, Chairun, nor his son Babullah
from taking the throne and sharing a similar fate ; a horrible death at the hands of the Portuguese.
Through Chairun governed for thirty five years and shored up his standing through an oath with
the Portuguese governor, Chairun’s hand on the Quran, Governor de Mesquita’s on the Holy Bible, he was in the end deceived, invited to celebrate their allegiance by the governor, he was
stabbed to death by the governor’s nephew and his corpse hacked into pieces and disposed of in
the sea.
Chairun’s son, Babullah, met an inglorious end as well;; after governor de Lacerda had been imprisoned for five years in Fort Gamlamo, he succeeded in driving out the Portuguesse but was
then by ruse defeated, when lured onto a Portuguese ship, he thought was bound for Goa, he was
there dispatched and met an end much like that of his father and predecessor, even though
referred to by Francis Drake as the ruler of 92 island. Babullah was murdered and his severed
head was placed in a box filled with salt and, thus preserved, was sent to the Viceroy of Goa, or
so both Rumphius and Valentijn mentioned in their writings about this man’s death.
13
The immeasurable success of spices in world history is a result of the endeavors of the Spanish
and Portuguese who in fact became unable to maintain their monopoly on trade following the fall
of Ternate in 1603 when the Dutch conquered the Portuguese fort in northern Ambon. Between
1630 and 1640 Sri Lanka and its cinnamon forests fell to combined Dutch-Sri Lankan forces, a
marriage of convenience the latter would soon have cause to regret, in 1641 Malacca surrendered
to the Dutch, the pepper port of Malabar followed in 1661-1663 and so, though authority still
rested in the hands of white Christian, it moved from Catholic to Protestant, from the Portuguese
and Spanish to the Dutch and British.
The second voyage around the world was undertaken by Sir Francis Drake with his ship, the
golden Hind which called at Ternate in 1579 and resulted in a treaty with Sultan Babullah in
which was stated that for the next twenty years the island’s cloves would be sold only to the English, Following which competition peaked with the formation of the VOC, Vereinigde OostIndische Companie, The Dutch East Indies Company; ships of spices were floating treasures
chest.
Competition between the English and the Dutch was very intense in the Moluccas where in 1623
employees of the English factory in Ambon were rounded up and tortured, whose fate was
foreshadowed a few years earlier by the destruction of the English outpost on the island of Run
which was then denuded of its trees for good measure but in the end the affair was tidied with the
signature of the Treaty of Breda at the conclusion of the second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665-1667
in which the English renounced their claims in the Moluccas in return for acknowledgment of
their sovereignity over New Amsterdam an island in the Americas, which today is better known
as New York and the Middle Ages ended with adventure, discoveries, and all their attendant
consequences.
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14
The allure of spices slowly began to fade, an interesting development for further study, as we
leave behind the 16th century, and the Portuguese, with the conquest of their colonies by the
Dutch, began in 1678 to ship spice plants to Brazil, including pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and
cinnamon while ever since 1689 following the Dutch conquest of Sri Lanka, the price of
cinnamon was kept at an artificially high level through blockades and monopolies which of
course were accompanied by local uprisings and cruel repression.
The Dutch with their highly paranoiac tendencies kept a firm grasp on its trade monopolies and
the seventeenth century showed profits from nutmeg and cloves being as much as 2.000 times
their original value thereby making that century the golden age for the VOC whose shareholders
built beautiful home on the banks of the canals in the Dutch city of Amsterdam where the price
was kept artificially high by burning excess supplies such as in 1735 when 1,250,000 pounds of
nutmeg were burned in Amsterdam alone an unfortunate event for an onlooker who was hanged
for taking a handful of nutmegs from the flames.
In June of 1760 visitors to Amsterdam were able to witness the burning of some sixteen million
French livres worth of cinnamon, a fire that lasted two days and two nights, which gave off a
fragrant cloud of smoke that passed over the entire county. In 1795, the system came to an abrupt
end when English navy cannons were put into action, Sri Lanka became an English colony and
the monopoly system was abandoned and plants transplanted to other tropical possessions. The
hermetic isolation of the spices had been shattered. The ancient combination of rarity and value
wa a thing of the past.
15
The Portuguese, with the loss of their colonies to the Dutch, in 1678 endeavored to transplant
cloves, cinnamon, and pepper to Brazil, a process that continued until the 18th century while
Spain, in the 16th century had already succeeded in transplanting ginger and cinnamon though
long before this time the cultivation of pepper had spread from Malabar, India to Sumatera and
other regions of Southeast Asia. But we now leave the Middle Ages behind, that time when
spices were the reason for adventure, firing the imagination and forging the will to overcome
trials and travails. In the end, spices became an inheritance for modern times, a commodity
accessible to the common man.
With our story of spices nearing its end, we return to Ternate, site of the oldest continuous
sultanate in Indonesia and now part of the Republic of Indonesia, traces it beginnings to exiles,
who fled there because of the queen of Jailolo, yet whose real name remains unknown. Even
Rainha Boki Raja the queen of Ternate is but the series of titles, with no personal name attached.
The names of the queen of Jailolo in 1250 and the queen of Ternate in 1520 have both been
swallowed by history.
As a small island whose historical fame is wedded to spices and documented fairly well, where
an interesting event occurred, that was caused by the visit of a scientist. Alfred Russel Wallace
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fellow founder with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution. His theory laid out in his “letter from Ternate”;; Darwins book “The Origin of Species appearing one year later. Another subject of interest was Indonesia’s natural diversity which lay behind the development of biogeographical theories about the formation of the earth resulting in an imaqinary line called the
Wallacea line separating between difference of flora and fauna as great as between those of the
continent Europe and Australia, found in the Indonesian Archipelago.
16
In his work The Malay Archipelago, AR Wallace quotes Sir Francis Drake who visited Ternate in
1579, the Potuguese had been run off and now maintained a settlement in Tidore according to
whom the Sultan of Ternate was described as follows :
“The king had a very rich canopy with embossing of gold borne over him, and was
guarded with twelve lances. From the waist to the ground was all cloth of gold, and that
was very rich; in the attire of his head were finely wreathed in diverse rings of plaited
gold, of an inch or more in breadth, which made a fair and princely show, somewhat
resembling a crown in form, about his neck he had a chain of pure gold, the links very
great and one fold double on his left hand was a diamond, and emerald, a ruby, and a
turkey; on his right hand in one ring a big and perfect turkey, and in another ring many
diamonds of smaller size”
The sultan who Drake met was Sultan Babullah and their meeting resulted in an agreement
whereby for the next twenty years all the cloves and nutmeg of the island would be sold only to
the English. (1579)
Moving to most recent times a symposium was held on December 8-9, 2009 on “150 years of the Wallace Line” held in Ternate where the 48th Sultan of Ternate Mudaffar Shah acted as official
host and a sponsor, followed by another international conference in Makasar titled “Alfred Russel Wallace and the Wallacea”. 17
Turning now to the current situation, the globalized world on this conference on spice. As the
world shrunk, agricultural products grew more varied and plentiful; potatoes, pumpkins,
tomatoes, pepper, and chilies now completed to fill the dining table In addition to these were
coffee and tea to whet the appetite, followed by sugar, whose allure came to replace that if spices.
Popular cookbooks showed a change in taste, the aristocratic image compromised with that of the
middle class to become more democratic, and with food becoming more simple, covering their
original taste with spices was deemed to be excessive, this new development, this trend, as it
were, to simply food, was understandable more honest in its presentation like Japanese food in its
original form and that of Italian cuisine as well.
With the development of science wherein chemicals have come to replace spices as medicine,
and with the medicine now seen as inordinately expensive, we’re going back to traditional herbal healing methods, returning to spices, but with a pursuant loss of prestige. Between the old
fashioned and the modern, what is striking is the change in the role of spices, but it is also very
interesting that among contemporary capitalistic monopolies, a beverage so popular as Coca cola
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is still able to keep the secret of its blend of ingredients, cinnamon and nutmeg, among them,
guarded and passed down through history, from the time when spices still controlled and moved
the world.
But still the objective is an appeal to the Indonesian Government to pay more attention to spices
where 500 years ago we were the only natural source moving the world and now in 2010 only
producing only 2,3% to the world spice trade of its potential. This is the real tragedy.
Jakarta, 13 Agustus 2013
Toeti Heraty N. Roosseno
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Abdurachman, Paramita R, 2008, Bunga Angin Portugis di Nusantara; jejak-jejak
kebudayaan Portugis di Indonesia, Jakarta, LIPI Press dan Yaysan Obor Indonesia.
2. AIPI & The Wallacea Foundation, 2008 :Letter from Ternate; 15th Anniversary the
Theory of Evolution”. (Konferensi 10-13 Desember 2008) Makasar.
3. Amal, M. Adnan, 2010, Kepulauan Rempah-rempah, perjalanan sejarah Maluku Utara
1250-1950, Jakarta, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.
4. ……………, 2009. Portugis dan Spanyol di Maluku, Jakarta, Komunitas Bambu
5. ……………, 2009. “Sejarah Kerajaan Ternate,” Makalah pada Simposium 150th Garis
Wallace, Ternate, Desember 2009
6. Dermout, Maria, 2008, Verzameld Werk, Amsterdam, Querido.
7. Dunn, Rose E, 1995, Petualangan Ibnu Battuta; Seorang Musafir Muslim Abad ke 14,
Jakarta; Yayasan Obor Indonesia.
8. Heraty, Toeti, 2006, Calon Arang, The Sotry of a Woman Sacrificed to Patriarchy, Bali,
Saritaksu.
9. Lapian, Adrian B, 2008, Pelayaran dan Perniagaan Nusantara Abad 16 dan 17, Jakarta
Komunitas Bambu.
10. Turner, Jack, 2005, Spicerijen, Een geschiedenis van verlockking en verleiding, Mouria.
11. ………………, 2005, Spice;; The history of a temptation, New York Vintage.
12. Wallace, Alfred Russel, 2009, Kepulauan Nusantara, sebuah kisah perjalanan, Kajian
Manusia dan Alam, Jakarta Komunitas Bambu.
13. ……………, (t.t.) The Malay Archipelago, Singapore, Periplus.
14. Yuanzhi, Kong, 2007, Cheng Ho, Muslim Tionghoa, Misteri Perjalanan Muhibah di
Nusantara, Jakarta, Pustaka Populer Obor.
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OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION OF
MS. MARIA AMOR,
FOUNDER/PRESIDENT OF WE CARE FOR HUMANITY
IN THE OCCASION OF THE
2013 INTERNATIONAL SPICES CONVENTION (ISC)
Ambon, Indonesia
I. OVERVIEW
Spices are non-leafy parts of plants used as a flavoring or seasoning. They are used to
add flavor to foods and beverages, and as herbal medicines. Asia is known as the ‘Land
of Spices’ as it is the place of origin, production, consumption and export of most
spices. Out of the world’s 70 plant species grown as spices, 13 are considered
major spices produced in Asia. They are briefly described below:
Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is the whole dried fruit of a perennial climber. India and Indonesia together
produce about half of the world’s total production of 180,000 t. Cardamom is a group of herbaceous
plants of the ginger family whose fruits are used as spices. Small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)
grown in India and Sri Lanka is by far the best quality of all. Others include large cardamom (Amomum
subulatum), Bengal cardamom (A. aromaticum), Siam cardamom (A. krervanh), and bastard cardamom (A.
xanthioides). India and Sri Lanka are the major producers of cardamoms. Cinnamon and cassia are related
plants of the genus Cinnamomum whose bark is used as a spice. Important species include the true
cinnamon (C. verum), cassia (C. cassia), Indonesian cassia (C. burmannii), Vietnamese cassia (C. loureirii),
and Indian cassia (C. tamala). India and Sri Lanka are the major producers. Chili pepper is obtained from
dried fruit of Capsicum annuum and C. frutescens. C. annuum or sweet pepper, which is less pungent, is
used to make paprika pepper for flavoring and coloring western foods, while C. frutescens or bird pepper is
more pungent and can be made into cayenne pepper to flavor more spicy oriental hot foods. Cloves come
from unopened flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum. In Asia Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka
produce clove, but greater quantities are produced in other continents, viz. Madagascar, Tanzania and the
West Indies. Coriander is the dried seed of Coriandrum sativum, a herbaceous plant. India is the largest
producer followed by Pakistan and Thailand. Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is an annual herb whose fruits
are pungent and highly aromatic. India and China are the main producers. Garlic (Allium sativum) is an
annual herb whose underground bulb is used as a spice.
69
Major producing countries are India, Korea, and Thailand. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a perennial herb
whose underground rhizomes, young and old, are used as a spice. India and Thailand are the major
producers. Nutmeg and Mace are two spices derived from an evergreen tree (Myristica fragrans). Indonesia
produces three-quarters of the total world output, while Grenada is second. Turmeric is the underground
rhizome of Curcuma longa. It is used as a spice, natural colorant and herbal medicine. India is the major
producer and exporter of turmeric. Vanilla comes from a pod of an orchid plant (Vanilla planifolium) whose
fragrance reveals itself after a series of successive treatments and fermentation in the sun. Indonesia is the
biggest producer in Asia, but much smaller than Madagascar, the world’s largest producer.
The paper also discusses the constraints faced by Asian spice growers which are:
biotic – including diseases, pests and lack of genetic variability
abiotic – drought, flood, fire, storm, soil toxicity,
socio-economic – marketing, quality control, competition with other crops and synthetics,
and lack of labor/capital, and
technological - lack of technologies and technology transfer.
Keywords:
Flavoring, seasoning, Spice Isle, Spice Route, Spice City, black pepper, cardamom,
cinnamon, cassia, chili pepper, clove, coriander, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, mace, turmeric,
vanilla.
II. INTRODUCTION
What are Spices?
Spices are non-leafy parts (e.g. bud, fruit, seed, bark, rhizome, bulb) of plants used as a
flavoring or seasoning, although many can also be used as a herbal medicine. A closely
related term, ‘herb’, is used to distinguish plant parts finding the same uses but
derived from leafy or soft flowering parts. The two terms may be used for the same
plants in which the fresh leaves are used as herbs, while other dried parts are used as
spices, e.g.
coriander, dill.
Importance of Spices
Spices have a profound influence on the course of human civilization. They permeate
our lives from birth to death. In everyday life, spices succor us, cure us, relax us, and
excite us. Ancient peoples such as the Egyptian, the Arab and the Roman made
extensive uses of spices, not only to add flavor to foods and beverages, but as
medicines, disinfectants, incenses, stimulants and even as aphrodisiac agents. No
wonder they were sought after in the same manner gold and precious metals.
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Spices in Asia
The Land of Spices From ancient times to the present, Asia has been well known as
the ‘Land of Spices’. The Maluku Islands of Indonesia, also known to English speakers
as the Moluccas, are referred to as the ‘Spice Islands’. It is the most popular of all
terms used to describe the land of spices although this term could be applied to
Sumatra as well as Sri Lanka, the latter also referred to as the ‘Spice Isle’. Melaka (or
Malacca), the most famous city known for its spice trade, is called the “Spice City”,
while the sea route that has linked Venice,
Arabia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia (Malacca), Moluccas, and China through spice
trading since the 16th century, is known as the ‘Spice Route’, ranking in importance
next to the famous ‘Silk Road’. For the Indians who produce and export the majority of
spices for world markets, the term ‘Spice Bowl of the World’, is applied to the State of
Kerala. Many of the world’s finest spices like black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger
and turmeric have been produced in Munnar, Devikulam and Peerumade, all located in
Kerala.
List of Spices Produced in Asia
Internationally, there are about 70 plant species that have been grown for spices, the
majority of which are in Asia. Although many other species have also been used as
spices, they are either not commercially cultivated, or have only been collected from
the wild.
Table 1 shows those that are produced commercially in countries in Asia.
Countries of Production of Major Spices
Spices have been grown as traditional crops in some Asian countries for thousands of
years. No wonder only few countries, notably India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka,
predominate commercial production of the major spices.
However, it is difficult to obtain statistics of production from the producing countries, or
from agencies, including FAO. The author has tried to give some indications of the
present production of major spices in Asian countries as shown in Table 2.
Common name
Anise
Basil
Black pepper
Caraway
Cardamom (large)
Cardamom (small)
Cassia
Celery
Chili pepper
Cinnamon
Clove
Coriander
Cumin
Curry leaf
Dill
Fennel
Fenugreek
Gamboge
Garlic
Ginger
Greater galangal
Long pepper
Marjoram
Mustard
Nutmeg & Mace
Oregano
Parsley
Rosemary
Saffron
Sage
Savory
Star anise
Sweet flag
Tamarind
Tarragon
Thyme
Turmeric
Vanilla
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Table 1. Plant species that are grown commercially as spices in Asia
Scientific name
Pimpinella anisum
Ocimum basilicum
Piper nigrum
Carum carvi
Amomum subulatum
Elettaria cardamomum
Cinnamomum cassia
Apium graveolens
Capsicum annuum
Cinnamomum verum
Syzygium aromaticum
Coriandrum sativum
Cuminum cyminum
Murraya koenigi
Anethum graveolens
Foeniculum vulgare
Triagonella foenumgraecum
Garcinia cambogiana
Allium sativum
Zingiber officinale
Kaempferia galanga
Piper longum
Marjorana hortensis
Brassica nigra
Myristica fragrans
Origanum vulgare
Petroselinum crispum
Rosemarinus officinalis
Crocus sativus
Salvia officinalis
Satureja hortensis
Ilicium verum
Acorus calamus
Tamarindus indicus
Artemisia dracunculus
Thymus vulgaris
Curcuma domestica
Vanilla planifolia
Part used
seed
leaf
berry
seed
capsule
capsule
bark
leaf & seed
fruit
bark & leaf
flower bud
leaf & seed
seed
leaf
leaf & seed
seed
seed
fruit
bulb
rhizome
rhizome
leaf
leaf & stem
seed
seed & aril
leaf
leaf
flower/seed & leaf
flower parts
leaf & seed
leaf
fruit
rhizome
fruit
leaf
leaf
rhizome
pod
Table 2. Producing countries in Asia of major spices
BGD
Black pepper
CPR
IND
INS
SRL
THA
VIE
O
O
O
O
X
O
O
X
X
O
X
X
O
X
X
O
X
X
X
X
Cardamom
O
Cassia
Chili pepper
X
X
Cinnamon
X
O
X
X
X
Cumin
X
X
O
O
O
X
O
Nutmeg
Turmeric
X
O
X
X
Vanilla
X
O
X
X
O
X
X
X
X
O
X
O
X
O
X
O = Major Producer
PAK
O
Garlic
Ginger
MAL
O
Clove
Coriander
ROK
O
X
O
X
X
X
X
X
X = Minor Producer
Legends: Countries
BDG
Bangladesh
MAL
Malaysia
CPR
China
PAK
Pakistan
IND
Indonesia
SRL
Sri Lanka
INS
India
THA
Thailand
ROK
Republic of Korea
VIE
Vietnam
Production of Major Spices in Asia
It is not an easy job to select among the list of spices produced commercially in Asia as major spices due mainly
to the lack of production statistics. Based on available information, the author decided to select 13 spices (as
listed in Table 2) and provide a brief description of each in the following paragraphs:
Black Pepper: Often referred to as the “King of Spices”, black pepper is one of the oldest and the most widely
used spices in the world. It is the whole dried fruit of a perennial climber, Piper nigrum Linn., a native of southern
India and grown commercially in South and Southeast Asia, as well as Brazil and Madagascar.
In cultivation, the pepper plant is normally grown with support, either on a living tree or a post (which can be
made of cement or wood). It is trimmed to the height of the post that may be about 3-4 m tall, in order to allow
easy picking. It has a shallow root system with most of the feeding roots distributed in the top 30-35 cm of soil.
Two types of branches are produced, vegetative (climbing) and reproductive (fruiting). The fruits are borne in a
cluster (spike) of 20-30 cm in length. Each fruit (drupe) is globose in shape and 5 mm (diam.) in size. It has a
pungent taste that is used in flavoring food.Propagation of commercially grown pepper proceeds through rooted
cuttings. Seeds are not usually used for propagation, except in the breeding program. Flowering begins after
about 18 months of growth. Many commercial varieties exist in all pepper growing countries. India and Indonesia
are the largest producers of black pepper (Table 3), together growing about half of the world's total production of
about 180,000 t. Outside Asia, black pepper is produced commercially in Brazil, Madagascar, and the Federated
States of Micronesia.
The most severe constraint on black pepper cultivation is the phytophthora disease caused by Phytophthora
capsici. No resistant variety has been found. A number of pepper products have been derived, viz. white pepper,
ground pepper, green pepper (frozen, freeze-dried, dehydrated), pepper oil and pepper oleoresin.
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Black Pepper Production in the world - World Trade
Peppercorns (dried black pepper) are, by monetary value, the most widely traded spice in the world, accounting
for 20 percent of all spice imports in 2002. The price of pepper can be volatile, and this figure fluctuates a great
deal year to year; for example, pepper made up 39 percent of all spice imports in 1998. [4] By weight, slightly more
chili peppers are traded worldwide than peppercorns.
The International Pepper Exchange is located in Kochi, India. Participation on the IPE however is domestic with
regulatory restrictions on international membership on local exchanges; something common to almost all Asian
commodity exchanges.
As of 2008, Vietnam is the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world’s Piper
nigrum. Other major producers include India (19%), Brazil (13%), Indonesia (9%), Malaysia (8%), Sri
Lanka (6%),China (6%), and Thailand (4%). Global pepper production peaked in 2003 with over 355,000 t
(391,000 short tons), but has fallen to just over 271,000 t (299,000 short tons) by 2008 due to a series of issues
including poor crop management, disease and weather. Vietnam dominates the export market, using almost none
of its production domestically; however its 2007 crop fell by nearly 10% from the previous year to about 90,000 t
(99,000 short tons). Similar crop yields occurred in 2007 across the other pepper producing nations as well.
Garlic Production in the World
Garlic is grown globally, but China is by far the largest producer of garlic, with approximately 10.5 million tonnes
(23 billion pounds) grown annually, accounting for over 77% of world output. India (4.1%) and South Korea (2%)
follow, with Egypt and Russia (1.6%) tied in fourth place and the United States (where garlic is grown in every state
except for Alaska) in sixth place (1.4%).[16] This leaves 16% of global garlic production in countries that each
produce less than 2% of global output. Much of the garlic production in the United States is centered in Gilroy,
California, which calls itself the "garlic capital of the world".
Top 10 garlic producers in 2010
Country
Production (tonnes)
Footnote
China
13,664,069
Im
India
833,970
South Korea
271,560
Egypt
244,626
Russia
213,480
Myanmar
185,900
Im
Ethiopia
180,300
Im
United States
169,510
Bangladesh
164,392
Ukraine
157,400
World
17,674,893
A
* = Unofficial figure | [ ] = Official data | A = May include official, semi-official or estimated data
F = FAO estimate | Im = FAO data based on imputation methodology | M = Data not available
Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[18]
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History of Spices, Early Discovery and Who discovered?
Early history
The Spice trade developed throughout South Asia and Middle East in around 2000 BCE
with cinnamon and pepper, and in East Asia with herbs and pepper. The Egyptians used herbs
for embalming and their demand for exotic herbs helped stimulate world trade. The word spice comes from the
Old French word espice, which became epice, and which came from the Latin root spec, the noun referring to
"appearance, sort, kind": species has the same root. By 1000 BCE, medical systems based upon herbs could be
found in China, Korea, and India. Early uses were connected with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, and
preservation.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered clove burnt onto the floor of a kitchen, dated to 1700 BCE, at the
Mesopotamian site of Terqa, in modern-day Syria. The ancient Indian epic Ramayana mentions cloves.
The Romans had cloves in the 1st century CE, as Pliny the Elder wrote about them.
In the story of Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers to spice merchants. In the biblical
poem Song of Solomon, the male speaker compares his beloved to many forms of spices. Generally, early
Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, and Mesopotamian sources do not refer to known spices.
In South Asia, nutmeg, which originates from the Banda Islands in the Maluku Islands, has a Sanskrit name.
Sanskrit is the ancient language of India, showing how old the usage of this spice is in this region. Historians
believe that nutmeg was introduced to Europe in the 6th century BCE.
Indonesian merchants traveled around China, India, the Middle East, and the east coast of
Africa. Arab merchants facilitated the routes through the Middle East and India. This resulted in the
Egyptian port city of Alexandria being the main trading center for spices. The most important discovery prior to
the European spice trade were the monsoon winds (40 CE). Sailing from Eastern spice growers to Western
European consumers gradually replaced the land-locked spice routes once facilitated by the Middle East Arab
caravans.
Middle Ages
"The Mullus" Harvesting pepper. Illustration from a French edition of The Travels of Marco Polo.
Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the
most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper
alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Given medieval medicine's main theory of humorism,
spices and herbs were indispensable to balance "humors" in food, a daily basis for good health at a time of
recurrent pandemics. Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them
expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venicehad the monopoly on spice trade with the
Middle East, and along with it the neighboring Italian city-states. The trade made the region rich. It has been
estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were imported into
Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly
supply of grain for 1.5 million people.[8] The most exclusive was saffron, used as much for its vivid yellow-red
color as for its flavor. Spices that have now fallen into obscurity in European cuisine include grains of paradise,
a relative of cardamom which most replaced pepper in late medieval north French cooking, long
pepper, mace, spikenard, galangal and cubeb.
Early modern period
The control of trade routes and the spice-producing regions were the main reasons
that Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1499. Spain and Portugal were not happy to pay
the high price that Venice demanded for spices. At around the same time, Christopher Columbus returned from
the New World, he described to investors new spices available there.
Another source of competition in the spice trade during the 15th and 16th century was the Ragusans from the
maritime republic of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia. The military prowess of Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–
1515) allowed the Portuguese to take control of the sea routes to India. In 1506, he took the island
of Socotra in the mouth of the Red Seaand, in 1507, Ormuz in the Persian Gulf. Since becoming the viceroy of
the Indies, he took Goa in India in 1510, and Malacca on the Malay peninsula in 1511. The Portuguese could
now trade directly with Siam, China, and the Maluku Islands. The Silk Road complemented the Portuguese sea
routes, and brought the treasures of the Orient to Europe via Lisbon, including many spices.
With the discovery of the New World came new spices, including allspice, bell and chili peppers, vanilla, and
chocolate. This development kept the spice trade, with America as a late comer with its new seasonings,
profitable well into the 19th century. In the Caribbean, the island of Grenada is well known for growing and
exporting a number of spices, including the nutmeg, which was introduced to Grenada by the settlers.
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III. HANDLING SPICES
A spice may be available in several forms: fresh, whole dried, or pre-ground dried.
Generally, spices are dried. A whole dried spice has the longest shelf life, so it can be
purchased and stored in larger amounts, making it cheaper on a per-serving basis.
Some spices are rarely available either fresh or whole, for example turmeric, and must
be purchased in ground form. Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard seeds, are
used both whole and in powder form.
The flavor of a spice is derived in part from compounds that oxidize or evaporate when
exposed to air. Grinding a spice greatly increases its surface area and so increases the
rates of oxidation and evaporation. Thus, flavor is maximized by storing a spice whole
and grinding when needed. The shelf life of a whole spice is roughly two years; of a
ground spice roughly six months. The "flavor life" of a ground spice can be much
shorter. Ground spices are better stored away from light.
To grind a whole spice, the classic tool is mortar and pestle. Less labor-intensive tools
are more common now: a microplane or fine grater can be used to grind small
amounts; a coffee grinder is useful for larger amounts. A frequently used spice such
as black pepper may merit storage in its own hand grinder or mill.
Some flavor elements in spices are soluble in water; many are soluble in oil or fat. As a
general rule, the flavors from a spice take time to infuse into the food so spices are
added early in preparation.
IV. NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF SPICES
Because they tend to have strong flavors and are used in small quantities, spices tend
to add few calories to food, even though many spices, especially those made from
seeds, contain high portions of fat, protein, and carbohydrate by weight. Many spices,
however, can contribute significant portions of micronutrients to the diet. For example,
a teaspoon of paprika contains about 1133 IU of Vitamin A, which is over 20% of the
recommended daily allowance specified by the US FDA.[ When used in larger quantity,
spices can also contribute a substantial amount of minerals, including iron,
magnesium, calcium, and many others, to the diet.
Most herbs and spices have substantial antioxidant activity, owing primarily
to phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids, which influence nutrition through many
pathways, including affecting the absorption of other nutrients. One study
found cumin and fresh ginger to be highest in antioxidant activity. These antioxidants
also can act as natural preservatives, preventing or slowing the spoilage of food,
leading to a higher nutritional content in stored food.
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•PRODUCTION OF SPICES IN THE WORLD
•India produces 70% of global spice production.
Top 10 spices producers in 2010
Country
India
Production (tonnes)
Footnote
1,051,000
Im
Bangladesh
128,517
Turkey
107,000
*
China
81,600
Im
Pakistan
53,647
Nepal
20,400
Im
Colombia
14,900
Im
Iran
11,500
Im
Burkina Faso
5,800
Im
Sri Lanka
5,200
Im
1,545,734
A
World
* = Unofficial figure | [ ] = Official data | A = May include official, semi-official or estimated data
F = FAO estimate | Im = FAO data based on imputation methodology | M = Data not available
Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[18]
V. INDONESIA AS A WORLD’S MAJOR SPICE PRODUCER
PROTECTION OF SPICE MARKET OF INDONESIA
Indonesia is the fifth most populated country in the world and is a major producer of agricultural products. The
islands of Java and Bali account for only 7 percent of Indonesia’s total land area but 60 percent of the
population. Agriculture is very intensive on these islands, with up to three crop rotations per year. Off Java, soils
are less fertile, and agriculture is less intensive. The major food crops, ranked by area harvested, are rice, corn,
cassava, soybeans and peanuts. Indonesia is also one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of tree
crops such as rubber, copra, palm kernels, palm oil, coffee, cocoa and spices. (Ministry of Agriculture, 2001).
The Government of Indonesia has made a great effort to integrate the Indonesian economy into the world
economy. The process began in the mid-1980s and accelerated in the 1990s when the Government reduced
international trade barriers substantially and opened up the economy to foreign investment. The impetus for
Indonesia’s market opening measures was the sharp drop in oil prices. The objective was to restructure the
economy by diversifying the trade sector away from its heavy dependence on oil.
Government policies were highly successful at attracting foreign investment into light, labour-intensive export
industries and led to the rapid growth of Indonesia’s manufacturing sector. One consequence is a declining
share of agriculture in the total economy. In 1985, the share of agriculture in the GDP stood at 23.2
percent.[63]By 2000, that share had fallen to 16.9 percent.
CURRENT STATE OF INDONESIA’S SPICE MARKET
What is the current state of Indonesia’s Spice Market? (strong, weak, bullish or bearish?)
Spices Export Market Looks Good, Herbal Drinks on the Rise
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The value of the global spice trade is expected to reach US$85.73 billion in 2015, jumping
44.37 percent from 2010's $59.38 billion.
76
•Diversification, which has long been a goal of agricultural policy, has taken on a broader meaning to
include expanding the types of employment opportunities available in rural areas.
•A priority for trade policy is to enhance Indonesia’s industrial competitiveness and to move up the value added processing chain. This is particularly the case for natural resource-based sectors such as
agriculture where exports are still highly concentrated in primary products.
•As in other countries that have experienced rapid economic growth, Indonesia now attaches far more
importance to protecting farm incomes. Twenty-five years ago, low food prices for consumers were a
major objective of the Government. Now, some argue that high prices for producers are of equal
importance.
PROMOTION OF INDONESIA’S SPICE MARKET
What are the ways and means to promote Indonesia’s Spice Market?
The Spice Market in the United States: Recent Developments and Prospects
On both a volume and value basis, the United States is the world's largest spice importer and consumer, with
both imports and consumption on an uptrend for the past 10 years. While the United States imports more than
40 separate spices, seven of these (vanilla beans, black and white pepper, capsicums, sesame seed, cinnamon,
mustard, and oregano) account for more than 75 percent of the total annual value of spice imports. While the
United States imports spices from more than 50 countries, 5 of these countries (Indonesia, Mexico, India,
Canada, and China) regularly account for one-half of the annual value of spice imports. The United States
produces nearly 40 percent of its annual spice needs, with imports supplying the remainder. Growing domestic
production consists of capsicum peppers, mustard seed, dehydrated onion and garlic, and herbs. U.S. spice
exports have also been expanding in recent years, led by dehydrated garlic and onion. Rising domestic use of
spices reflects growing Hispanic and Asian populations, a trend toward the use of spices to compensate for less
salt and lower fat levels in foods, and heightened popularity of ethnic foods from Asia and Latin America.
VI. WE CARE FOR HUMANITY AS A MARKETING TOOL OF
INDONESIA’S SPICE MARKET?
What is We Care for Humanity as an organization?
What are the past, present and future programs of We Care for Humanity?
What is SPICES FOR HUMANITY as a project of We Care for Humanity, specifically
established to promote Indonesia’s Spice Market?
WE CARE FOR HUMANITY
Founded in 2011, We Care for Humanity, is a global non-profit organization
501(c)(3)based in Los Angeles, with a headquarter in 19611 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana,
California 91356. We are an internationally recognized organization dealing mainly with
current global concerns such as world trade and world product distribution, protection
and promotion, hunger and malnutrition, human trafficking, environmental abuse, lack
of education, trade imbalance and women and child abuse, among others. We deal with
these pressing matters by actively promoting world peace, understanding and
international relations between and among nations.
On the lighter side, however, we are in the forefront of promoting and bringing to the
consciousness of everyone the importance of understanding one’s language, arts and
culture, through training, education and the use of innovative and highly-interactive
entertainment media facility in our headquarter. You may want to visit our website at
www. wecareforhumanity.org for more details .
77
SPICES FOR HUMANITY
•How the We Care for Humanity can promote Indonesia’s Spice Market through its
extensive local, nationwide and global reach and market, as maximized and
evidenced in the G.O.D. Awards, which is a global and international gathering of
highly-established people from business, academe, government, entertainment and
research sectors?
•How can We Care for Humanity be able to maximize the benefits and potentials of
Spices for Humanity for the peoples of Indonesia?
•How can We Care for Humanity be able to represent Spices for Humanity in the
United State of America and internationally, as displayed by the global reach and
market of WCH in its global project such as G.O.D. Awards, etc.
•How can the We Care for Humanity be able to promote other Indonesian goods,
products and services through its extensive local, nationwide and global reach and
market?
WHAT CAN WE CARE FOR HUMANITY CONTRIBUTE TO PROMOTE INDONESIA’S SPICE
PRODUCTION THROUGH “SPICES FOR HUMANITY PROJECT”
•With its known and recognized clout in diplomacy and international humanitarian works and
projects, We Care for Humanity can and will initiate the following programs to promote and support
the Indonesia’s Spice Market:
•Be an active partner in selling the finest spices to high-end chefs in the United States;
•Promote to the world that the best place to get spices would be no other than Remarkable
Indonesia! Some of the world’s favorite spices from Indonesia are, Lampong peppercorn,
Indonesian long pepper, ginger, and Sarawak white pepper;
•To promote Indonesia as the world's largest producer and the leading exporter of cinnamon,
nutmeg, mace, cardamo, and clove, Indonesia is rich with many unique spices;
•We Care for Humanity is on a mission to bring greater exposure to Indonesian spice and at the
same time highlighting and celebrating their origin, Indonesia;
•We Care for Humanity will also create a documentary about Indonesian spices that will be
broadcasted on The Maria Amor Show and online web series;
•We Care for Humanity, through Pres and Founder, Maria Amor, will personally met with the
Indonesian Spices Chamber of Commerce representative to forge a working relations in promoting
the Spices for Humanity project for Indonesia’s Spice products and market potentials;; and
•We Care for Humanity will continue to work closely with the Consulate General of the Republic of
Indonesia in Los Angeles, and the Ministry of Tourism and Creatif Economy, to ensure that We Care
for Humanity vision to promote Indonesian spices products and industry will become a reality.
78
VII. SUMMARY
The spice market is under increasing pressure. Growing consumer and commercial
demand for spices and the shifting of spice farmers to the production of other
commodities are important factors. Moreover, there is a growing awareness of
sustainability issues in the spice sector and the need to address them. These issues
include loss of biodiversity, overuse of chemicals and pesticides, water use, and lack of
access to finance. By 2020, end users in the food industry such as Unilever will demand
100% sustainable spices.
SOURCES AND REFERENCES:
1. Spice Production in Asia - An Overview
Narong Chomchalow
Office of the President, Assumption University
Bangkok, Thailand
2. Wikipedia
3. USDA United States Department of Agriculture – Economic Research Service
The Spice Market in the United States: Recent Developments and Prospects
by Peter J. Buzzanell, Rex Dull, and Fred Gray
Agriculture Information Bulletin No. (AIB-709) 60 pp, July 1995
4. Tempo.Co – Indonesia
5. Ministry of Agriculture – Indonesia
6. FAO – Food Agriculture Organization
7. Jakarta Post
8. Indonesian Trade Promotion Los Angeles, CA
9. The Sustainable Trade Initiative
79

Summary of Spices: History and Tragedy

Transcription

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