Origin: INDONESIA

Links: www.igc.int (International Grains Council)

Origin: INDONESIA

We bring to our customers different type of paddy, milled and brown rice from the USA, India, Thailand and Vietnam. Goldman Commodities has decided to work with various countries and rice producers in order to reduce risk and to ensure the supply of a quality commodity.

It is important to know that Rice is the most consumed cereal in the world after the wheat, rice is considered as the staple food for almost the half world population. Only 6% of the world rice production is exchanged because the main producers are also the major consumers. China is, for example, the first rice producer in the world (30%) but it is also the biggest consumer. In the opposite, Africa imports the third part of the world exchange because its production covers only ten percent of its consumption. And just the opposite, the US produces less than 3% of the world production but accounts for 13% of the world rice exchanged.

Links:   www.irri.org (IRR)

www.ricepedia.org (Ricepedia)

Rice at a glance

The origin of domesticated rice started in Yangtze Valley in China more than 10’000 years ago. Before that period the wild rice was part of means of subsistence. The rice culture expanded rapidly to India and Sri Lanka where it became the major crop around 1000 Before Christ. Alexander the Great brought the cereal from India to Greece and its next regions around 340 BC before it spread throughout Europe and the North Africa. The rice was brought to the Americas by the Portuguese and the Spanish.

Rice cultivation is water and labour extensive, reason why its quote is higher than the wheat. This cereal, rich of starch, is cultivated in tropical, subtropical and temperate region. Rice is cultivated in irrigated (75% of the world production) or rained (25% of the world production) lands. There are more than forty thousand varieties of Orysa sativa which could be classified into four main categories: Japonica, Indica, aromatic and glutinous.

Rice is harvested when the grains have a moisture content of around 20% to 25%. In Asia it is still mostly carried out manually. Before shipping, rice is dried and removed of his husk; at this stage rice can be package as brown rice (rice contain germ), or after having removed the germ by a soft milling process, it can be package as a well-known white rice.

Origin: INDONESIA

Link : www.ipcnet.org (International Pepper Community)

PEPPER. Peppercorn named drupe before being dried, is the fruit of a vine of the Piperaceae family. The plant, which can grow up to 4 meters, gives fruit after three to five years. The yield of the plant increases by three to ten kg per year from the third to the seventh year, afterwards the productivity decrease up to two kg per year.  The harvest starts from May to September depending to the region, and is done at different times according to the type of pepper desired:

– Black pepper:  not yet fully ripe grapes, it means yellow grains with some red beans

– White pepper: ripe grapes where the grains are at least ¾ red

– Green pepper: unripe clusters with at most 10% yellow grains.

The main exporters in descending order in volume terms are Vietnam, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China Thailand and Madagascar.

The green and white peppers are used only in the food industry, while the black pepper is also used in the fragrance industry and pharmacy in essential oil form. The Pepper, a very appreciated and valued spice since 4000 years before Christ, owes its piquant flavour to the piperine.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information on our product range. (info@goldman-ci.com)

Origin: INDONESIA

PATCHOULI (Pogostemon cablin) is a tropical plant which is cultivated in Haiti, Madagascar, Zair… Patchoui, an aromatic herb, can be harvested six months after being planted and then every three months. The plants deliver oil by distillation which has medicinal properties but is widely used in the perfumery industry. Patchouli releases à powerful odour, woody, earthy and dry with smoky accents. Patchouli oil holds complex chemicals which couldn’t be synthesized nowadays.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information on our product range. (info@goldman-ci.com)

Origin: INDONESIA

We negotiate a wide variety of Arabica and Robusta qualities that come from several producing countries (please see below the origin of our coffee). We serve clients who are always on the lookout for the rare pearl in order to satisfy their consumers.

Links: www.ico.org (International coffee organisation)

Coffee at a glance

It is assumed that coffee originated in Ethiopia and its first culture would have been developed in Yemen before expanding to all Arab countries. It was only in 1600 that Europe took advantage of that flavour, and in 1727 the Americas experienced its first plantation in Brazil.

Today coffee remains a family business; in fact 70% of the plantations are situated in fields smaller than 10 hectares and on mountain sides reaching up to 2000 m. in altitude. Coffee culture sustains a very large number of people because picking can often be done only manually.

Arabica produces a soft and aromatic coffee and requires a cooler climate than Robusta; Arabica is grown in mountain regions, while Robusta, which gives more caffeine, is better acclimatized to flat lands and its yield is superior.

Arabica’s harvest is carried out 6-8 months after flowering, while we have to wait 9-11 months for Robusta. Before shipping, the coffee is stripped of its envelope by drying and washing, then of its hull by a mechanical process.

Origin: INDONESIA

We assure our industrial or artisan clients, a quality cocoa thanks to the long term partnerships we establish with exporters and local cooperatives. The other reason for its associations is our concern for fair trade and sustainable development. We have also negotiated strategic partnerships with local manufacturers which enable us to deliver to our customers cocoa products such as cocoa butter, cocoa powder or cocoa liquor.

 Links :   www.icco.org (International Cocoa Organisation),

              www.worldcocoafoundation.org  (World Cocoa Foundation)

              www.eurococoa.com European Cocoa Association

 

Cacao at a glance

We are not sure if Christopher Columbus discovered America; on the other hand Cortez, a Spanish explorer, who was taken by Aztecs for a reincarnated god was covered with offerings like cocoa beans, and felt the real value of cocoa. Cocoa was consumed only as a drink, which was adapted to the taste of Spanish in 1528. They were able to keep the secret source of cocoa for 140 years. The Mayans and Aztecs, who had enjoyed this beverage for a long time, also used cocoa beans as currency. The cacao tree comes from the tropical forests of the Amazon and other parts of central South America.

Cacao cultivation first spread to Mexico and Brazil going through the centre of South America and the Caribbean before reaching the islands of Indonesia. Then it is in West Africa that the expansion was strongest in the 19th century.

The cacao tree, which can measure 10 meters in height, was decreased to about 3 meters order to facilitate picking. This tree grows in tropical regions up to an altitude of 1000 meters and at temperatures between 18 and 30 degrees Celsius. The tree, which produces fruit only three years after planting gives flowers all year round. 5-6 months following the fertilization of the flower, the fruit, named pod is ripe when it turns from green to yellow or from red to orange, depending on the species. In some regions the harvest is done all year round and in the others as in Ivory Coast, it is carried out twice a year. It is a culture which is labour intensive and is mainly done by families.

There are three main types of cocoa bean:

Forasteros: represents about 80% of world production, these beans gives a strong cocoa taste, slightly aromatic, bitter and acid.

Criollos: represents about 5% of world production, its cocoa is the most refined and aromatic, it is sweet and slightly bitter and acid.

Trinitarios: represents about 15% of world production, gives a powerful and refined flavor but is less intense than the Criollos. It is a hybrid of the first two species.

Before shipping, the pods are cut by hand to get the cocoa beans out; the beans are then fermented to give colour and flavour to the cocoa, and finally are dried. This process is virtually unchanged from the one taught by the Aztecs

Origin: INDONESIA

Origin: INDONESIA

Origin: INDONESIA

CINNAMON is the bark removed of the cinnamon tree (Laurel family) which grows in tropical climates and can achieve between 10 and 15 meters. To facilitate the harvest of the bark, which is done every two years during the rainy season, the tree is maintained at a height of 2.5 meters. The cinnamon’s flavour is due to its aromatic essential oil. The main producers are Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Madagascar and finally China. The cinnamon of Ceylon and Madagascar presents a more subtle taste than the Chinese.

Cinnamon is used in the food, but also in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information on our product range. (info@goldman-ci.com)