Comparison
Cassia or Ceylon cinnamon.
Most of what the world calls cinnamon is cassia, and Indonesia is a major source of it. Ceylon cinnamon is a different species from Sri Lanka, thinner, milder and far lower in coumarin. Because European legislation limits coumarin in finished products, the difference is regulatory rather than a matter of preference.
Side by side.
| Criterion | Indonesian cassia | Ceylon cinnamon |
|---|---|---|
| Species | Cinnamomum burmannii. A distinct tree, not a grade of the other one. | Cinnamomum verum. The one botanists mean by cinnamon. |
| Coumarin1 | Present at levels that matter. European legislation limits the compound in finished products, so a bulk lot has to be measured before it is formulated. | Very much lower, which is the whole reason the distinction is commercially alive. |
| Bark and appearance | Thick, hard quills that hold their shape. Darker and more robust. | Thin, brittle, multi-layered quills that crumble easily. Paler. |
| Flavour | Strong, sweet and hot. This is the flavour most consumers recognise as cinnamon. | Delicate and more complex, and easily lost in a heavily spiced formulation. |
| Price and availability | The volume product, available in quantity from Indonesia and Vietnam. | A far smaller trade, priced well above cassia. |
| Fraud and adulteration2 | The Commission's own research service has found fraud and safety problems in cinnamon on the EU market, which is why buyers test more than they used to. | The premium makes it the target: cassia sold as Ceylon is the classic substitution. |
Which to choose.
- You are making a bakery or beverage product at volume
- Cassia, with coumarin measured on the shipped lot and checked against your formulation.
- Your product is consumed in quantity or aimed at children
- Take the coumarin question to your own regulatory advisor before choosing.
- You need the delicate flavour and the label claim
- Ceylon, from Sri Lanka. Indonesia does not produce it.
- You were offered Ceylon at close to a cassia price
- Have the species identified. That gap is the oldest substitution in the spice trade.
Questions buyers ask.
Is cassia unsafe?
It is a food eaten worldwide in enormous quantity. The regulatory attention is on coumarin intake from finished products where cinnamon is a large part of the recipe, which is why the limit sits on the product and not on the spice. What a bulk buyer needs is the figure on their lot, and then a conversation with whoever signs off their formulation.
Can I just buy Ceylon instead?
You can, at a much higher price and from a different country, and it will taste different in the finished product. For many recipes that is a reformulation rather than a swap. It is a genuine option and it is not a like-for-like substitution.
Does Korintje mean higher quality?
It names a place, the Kerinci valley in Jambi, in an old spelling. Buyers regularly read it as a grade above ordinary cassia. The Indonesian grade letters A, B and C are a separate trade convention with no published table behind them, so put the physical description in the contract.
How do I test for species?
A laboratory can distinguish them, and on a bulk lot the more useful test is coumarin itself, since that is the number your compliance turns on. Whole quills are also distinguishable by eye once you have handled both, which is an argument for buying quills rather than powder on a first order.
Worth reading.
Still deciding?
Tell us the application and the market. We will say which one your specification actually needs, and quote both if it is genuinely close.
Sources
- 1Entering the European market for cinnamon. CBI, Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Commission finds fraud and potential safety issues in cinnamon on the EU market. European Commission, Joint Research Centre. Checked 3 August 2026.