The Spice Industry and its Objectives
Around 70 spice processing and refining firms have organised themselves into the German Spice Association. The members refine spices and produce spice blends, spice preparations and other seasoning preparations - in 1999 they made up to around 1 billion DM. Spice producers’ important partners are the spice importers: This is based on their commodity knowledge and trade experience, their world wide connections, specific local knowledge and permanent market observation. Almost 60,000 t of spices are imported into Germany annually, with, quantitatively, pepper and paprika clearly leading, followed by nutmeg, caraway, coriander and ginger.The spice industry is divided into two sectors:
- The special sector, “Household Spices”, which meets the needs of the household, gastronomy, the food service industry and the trade-based resale business.
- The special sector, “Processing Spices”, which is the powerful partner of the food producers in the industrial and crafts sector, especially in the meat processing area.
With over 1,500 different types of sausage, Germany is a real sausage el dorado. Credit for this has to be given to the spice industry for providing the superior seasoning for every type of sausage and all meat specialities. A basic requirement for taste and look is the production technology of the meat products. So, it is not surprising that many additives used nowadays to optimise the production process are a result of the inventive spirit of the spice industry. And, as taste counts more than ever as a sign of quality, food producers have been depending on the achievement potential of the spice industry with great success.
Spices do not conform to any mathematical laws. Experience, cleverly thought up recipes, stringent quality controls and high-tech plants for cleaning, cold grinding, sieving, blending and filling, build the basis for the present high standards of quality which have been achieved.
