Agriculture & food
Indonesian cassia cinnamon
Indonesian cassia is Cinnamomum burmannii, known in the trade as Korintje after the Kerinci valley on Sumatra where it grows. It is graded by a system unique to Indonesia, and it carries coumarin, which is the compound that decides whether a bulk lot clears into Europe.
How it leaves the country.
- Quills and sticks
- Rolled bark in the traditional form, graded on how thin and how tightly rolled it is.
- Broken and chips
- For grinding and extraction. Cheaper, and the coumarin question applies just as much.
- Ground
- Powdered, where the microbiological and adulteration questions become sharper because the material can no longer be inspected by eye.
How it is graded.
The grading here is Indonesian and nobody else uses it. Type A, sometimes written AA or KA, is the thinnest and most tightly rolled with the highest volatile oil. B and C run progressively thicker and woodier.
- The type letters
- A trade convention rather than a published standard. Write the physical description into the contract alongside the letter.1
- Coumarin
- Naturally present in cassia. European legislation limits it in finished products, and a bulk lot carrying very high levels can be refused at the border.1
- Adulteration is a live issue
- The Commission's own research service has found fraud and safety problems in cinnamon on the EU market, which is why buyers are testing more than they used to.2
How it is packed.
- Bales and bags
- Quills are baled, broken material bagged. Both need protection from moisture, because cassia takes up damp and mould follows.
- Microbiology
- Whole spices carry a microbiological risk that European food buyers manage upstream. Steam treatment is the usual answer and it belongs in the specification.3
Where it grows.
Kerinci
Sumatra
The valley the trade name comes from, straddling West Sumatra and Jambi, and the origin most often written into a specification.
West Sumatra
Sumatra
The wider growing area feeding the same collectors and the same exporters.
Jambi
Sumatra
The other half of the Kerinci highlands, with the same species and the same practice.
Who buys this.
Choosing between this and something else.
Origins with a protected name.
Names the trade contracts on, most of them on the Indonesian register of geographical indications.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Certificate of analysis
- Coumarin, volatile oil, moisture and microbiology on the lot that shipped. On this product the coumarin figure is the one that decides acceptance.
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Issued by Badan Karantina Indonesia against the plant health requirements of the destination.4
- Treatment certificate
- Where the lot is steam-treated, the record travels with it and is worth naming in the order.
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and on the preference scheme in force between it and Indonesia.
Questions buyers ask.
Is cassia the same as Ceylon cinnamon?
Different species and different products. Ceylon cinnamon is Cinnamomum verum from Sri Lanka, thinner and milder, with far less coumarin. Cassia is what most of the world calls cinnamon and what Indonesia produces, and the two are not substitutes on either flavour or compliance.
Why does coumarin matter?
Because European legislation limits it in finished products, so a manufacturer buying bulk cassia has to know what is in it before they formulate. Ask for the figure on the shipped lot rather than a general assurance about the origin.
What does Korintje mean?
It is the Dutch colonial rendering of Kerinci, the Sumatran valley where the species has been grown for export for centuries. It functions as an origin name in the trade, and like any origin name it belongs in the specification with the physical description beside it.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
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.
- 3Entering the European market for black pepper. CBI, Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 4Badan Karantina Indonesia, the national quarantine agency. Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.