Ceylon Cinnamon from Madagascar

APLV is a family operated business with the mission to improve the work standards in the spice industry in Madagascar. It was established in 2017 and the specialises in the collection, curing and exportation of Vanilla Bourbon Beans, Powder and Cocoa beans and Chili Pepper. They are dead by a team of 2 leaders engaging more than 50 people in 5 regions working with more than 4,000 farmers across the country. The company now deals with a wide range of products including Mace, Nutmeg, Clove, Turmeric, Black and Pink Peppercorn and Cinnamon. The company has been exporting cinnamon to the UK and Europe at the moment. It is interested in exporting to the USA and Asia, and other emerging markets such as Japan.

The company owns a warehouse in Toamasina where the cinnamon sticks are stored in an airtight container. The sticks are stored at constant room temperature between 15 to 25°C. They can be stored in mason Jar, plastic or metal container or vacuum packaging to ensure that the product is durable for a longer period of time. The product is then packaged according to the requirement of the client. For shipment, the final packaging is placed in cartons and then PE bags of size 47 x 35 x 29 cm. Both air and sea freight are the preferred modes of shipment through the Port of Toamasina.

APLV pays attention to the following appearance, signs of maturity and olfactory signs. The sticks must be golden reddish skin, cigar tube-shaped with no signs of bruises, white spots or decay. They should have a uniform colour, and the final packaging should have only whole sticks and no broken or damaged sticks. The product must possess fresh cinnamon flavour, be free from foreign odour and have no signs of mould or fermented scent. The company takes account of both physical and laboratory control to ensure optimum quality.Organic certification is pending for cinnamon.

The average production yield of the sticks is 400 metric tons per year. The cultivation area is 340 hectares in total located in the region of Mahanoro/Makanara. Conventional farming methods are utilized with a natural irrigation process (conditional on rain). Weeding and harvesting are done manually by hand. Harvesting is done once the tree is not in its regenerative state in the month of January. Each farmer peels the product by hands and is then left to be sun-dried for 4 to 5 days to allow the bark to curl into rolls. The final cinnamon received from the farmers is re-verified at the warehouse and visual inspection and metal detection are done. During sorting the product is reviewed and cut according to product standards. There are approximately 250 producers involved in the entire process.

APLV offers high-quality Cinnamon Ceylon originated in Madagascar. It is a tree-based ingredient and belongs to the Cinnamomum Zeylanicum variety. It has a sweet, spicy and earthy flavour to it and appears as a long tube. The length is between 4 cm to a maximum of 15 cm.

It has the following specifications:

Volatile Oil: 0.5 ml/100g min – 1.0 ml/100g max
Moisture Content: 12%min – 15%max
Moulds/Yeast/E coli : Under 10.0 cfu/g
Salmonella: under 10 000.0 cfu/g
Foreign matter: under 3.0%

The colour ranges from golden yellow to reddish-brown dried stick. It comes in the form of a long tube or stick and is made of 100% cinnamon bark. It can be used as a flavouring agent in food products directly or further processing. The product offered has a shelf life of more than 24 months if stored in airtight containers. It is produced using 100% natural inputs with no chemical treatment involved.