Whole vs ground spices for export

Whole vs ground spices for export: which should you buy?

Ship whole where you can — longer shelf life, lower adulteration risk, and the buyer controls grind. Ship ground only when the buyer needs it ready-to-use and trusts your testing.

• — Whole spices keep volatile oils longer than ground
• — Ground spice is easier to adulterate and harder to verify
• — Whole and ground often sit on different HS sub-lines with different duty

Unless: The buyer is a manufacturer wanting a specified mesh size delivered ready-to-dose, where in-house grinding is a cost they would rather outsource to a tested supplier.