Premium Clove
Supplier to Japan
IndianXporter is a leading bulk supplier of certified clove for the Japan market. We provide end-to-end logistics, customs compliance support, and direct shipping to major Japan ports.
About Clove
Clove is the dried, unopened flower bud of the evergreen tree Syzygium aromaticum (formerly Eugenia caryophyllata), native to the Maluku (Spice) Islands of Indonesia. The buds are hand-picked when they turn pink-red but before they open, then sun-dried until they shrink to the familiar hard, nail-shaped reddish-brown spice — the name itself derives from the Latin 'clavus', meaning nail. Cloves are unusually rich in volatile oil (14–20%), of which eugenol is the dominant compound, giving clove its intense warm-sweet, pungent aroma and powerful antiseptic and analgesic properties.
In India, cloves are cultivated mainly in Kerala — particularly the Western Ghats districts — along with Tamil Nadu (the Kanyakumari / Kalakkad hills), Karnataka and the Nilgiris, typically intercropped within spice and plantation systems. While India's volume is modest against the global giants, Indian export houses clean, grade, hand-sort and value-add whole clove, headless/stemless clove, clove stems and ground powder, and also process eugenol-rich clove oil and oleoresin for flavour, fragrance and dental applications.
Globally, clove is dominated by Indonesia (largely for its domestic kretek cigarette industry), Madagascar and Zanzibar (Tanzania), which together drive the international free-trade supply. India is a net importer for domestic consumption but maintains a steady premium export trade in clean, high-eugenol, ASTA-grade cloves and value-added clove products, leveraging integrated processing and competitive FOB shipping from Cochin and Tuticorin.
Compliance & Quality Standards for Japan
Japan maintains some of the world's most stringent food safety and residue standards, enforced by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) under the Food Sanitation Act. All food imports are subject to inspection by Japan's quarantine stations and must comply with Japan's Positive List system for agricultural chemical residues, which sets MRLs far more stringent than Codex standards for many substances. IndianXporter coordinates pre-shipment residue testing at NABL-accredited or Japan-approved laboratories and provides detailed pesticide use records to support Japanese customs clearance. The Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS) label is required for organic products. Plant products require phytosanitary certification from India's NPPO and may be subject to pest risk assessment under Japan's Plant Protection Law. Japanese buyers typically request detailed COA per lot, microbiological test reports, and allergen declarations in Japanese, which IndianXporter can coordinate. At IndianXporter, we ensure every batch of clove exceeds the quality expectations of Japan importers and adheres to all local regulatory mandates.
Our Export Commitment
Processing Excellence
Advanced Sortex-cleaned, graded, and processed in ISO & FDA certified facilities.
Verified Inspection
Full pre-shipment inspections by SGS, Intertek, or QIMA available upon request.
100% Traceability
End-to-end farm-to-port traceability maintained for all international shipments.
Logistics & Shipping to Japan
Streamlined transit routes from major Indian ports to ensure fast and secure delivery to Japan.
Destination Ports
Direct FCL/LCL shipping to:
Estimated Transit
Port-to-Port lead time:
18-25 Days
From Mumbai / Mundra
Indian Loading Hubs
Consolidated shipments via:
Clove Export Specifications
What Drives Clove Pricing
Before quoting Japan buyers, we track the same factors that move global clove FOB rates:
- Indonesia kretek demand — Indonesia consumes most of its huge clove crop domestically for kretek cigarettes, tightening world free-trade supply
- Madagascar & Zanzibar harvests — these origins drive the international export market; a short East African crop sharply lifts global clove prices
- Biennial bearing — clove trees bear heavily in alternate years, creating natural multi-year price cycles
- Eugenol & clove-oil demand — strong pharma/fragrance demand for eugenol firms prices for buds, headless and stems
- USD/INR, freight and import parity — India's own deficit means landed cost and currency strongly influence export pricing
Clove Commercial Grades
Choose the grade that matches your Japan buyer's application and budget.
Hand-Picked Selected (HPS) Whole Clove
- Processing
- Hand-sorted whole buds with heads intact, max 5% headless
- Colour
- Uniform dark reddish-brown
- Use Case
- Premium retail, gourmet, branded whole-spice jars
- Pricing
- +15–25% over standard whole
Standard Whole Clove (Stemless)
- Processing
- Machine-cleaned, de-stemmed, sortex-graded
- Colour
- Reddish-brown, mostly uniform
- Use Case
- Industrial food, spice blenders, foodservice, biryani/masala trade
- Pricing
- Base export grade
Headless / FAQ Clove
- Processing
- Lower selection with higher headless and broken content
- Colour
- Mixed brown
- Use Case
- Grinding to powder, oleoresin and oil extraction
- Pricing
- -15–20% below standard whole
Clove Powder (Ground)
- Processing
- Sortex-cleaned buds milled to 60–80 mesh
- Colour
- Dark brown
- Use Case
- Bakery, masala blends, retail jars, nutraceutical capsules
- Pricing
- +10–20% (value-added)
Clove Stems
- Processing
- Separated dried stems for extraction
- Colour
- Brown, woody
- Use Case
- Clove stem oil and eugenol extraction
- Pricing
- -50–60% below whole clove
India vs Madagascar: Clove Sourcing Comparison
Indonesia is the world's largest producer but consumes most of its crop domestically for kretek cigarettes, so Madagascar and Zanzibar (Tanzania) dominate the international free-trade supply of whole clove. India is a comparatively small grower (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka) and a net importer for domestic use, but competes in premium export channels through ASTA-grade cleaning, hand-sorted high-eugenol cloves and strong value-added clove powder and oil processing.
Clove
Premium B2B Grade
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Other Products We Export to Japan
Bulk Indian commodities with direct shipping and Japan compliance support.