Agriculture & food
Indonesian cloves
Indonesia is the largest clove producer in the world and it also imports cloves. The reason is kretek, the domestic clove cigarette industry, which absorbs the great majority of the crop. A spice buyer sourcing here is bidding against that industry rather than against other spice buyers.
How it leaves the country.
- Whole dried cloves
- The spice trade product, graded on colour, headless content and foreign matter.
- Clove stems
- A separate and much cheaper trade, mostly for distillation into stem oil.
- Oils
- Leaf, bud and stem oils are distilled here too, and each has its own standard and its own buyers.
How it is graded.
Cloves are graded on appearance and cleanliness rather than against a published table. Specify what you will accept rather than relying on a grade name, because the names vary between exporters.
- Why availability moves
- Domestic cigarette demand sets the price floor, and Indonesia imports when the crop falls short of it. Spice availability follows that market.1
- What to specify
- Moisture, headless clove percentage, foreign matter, volatile oil content, and whether the lot is steam-treated.
- Microbiology
- Whole spices carry a microbiological risk European food buyers manage upstream, and steam treatment is the usual answer.2
How it is packed.
- Bags
- Jute or polypropylene at the net weight the destination trade works with. Cloves take up moisture, so the bag and the storage both matter.
- Odour transfer
- Cloves are aromatic enough to affect what travels with them. A mixed container needs checking before it is booked.
Where it grows.
North Sulawesi
Sulawesi
A major producing area with a long trading history and established collection.
Maluku
Maluku
Where clove originally comes from. Smaller volumes now, and a name that still carries.
Central Java
Java
Growing close to where the cigarette industry sits, which is part of why the crop rarely travels far.
West Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Feeding the same collectors as the north, with the same seasonality.
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
- Moisture, headless content, foreign matter and volatile oil on the lot that shipped.
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Issued by Badan Karantina Indonesia against the plant health requirements of the destination.3
- 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.
Why is Indonesian clove sometimes expensive for a producing country?
Because the domestic cigarette industry is the buyer of first resort and it is very large. When the crop is short, Indonesia imports rather than exporting, and a spice buyer feels that immediately in both price and availability.
Should I buy Indonesian or Madagascan clove?
Depends on the year as much as the origin. Both produce good spice-grade clove, and Indonesian availability swings with domestic demand in a way Madagascan supply does not. For a continuous programme it is worth being able to work with either.
Is clove oil a better route?
It is a different trade with different economics, and Indonesia is strong in it. If you need the aroma rather than the whole spice, leaf and bud oils are worth pricing alongside the spice itself.
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
- 1The impact of clove import policy on the clove market and cigarette production in Indonesia. Indonesian Center for Agriculture Socio Economic and Policy Studies. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Entering the European market for black pepper. CBI, Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 3Badan Karantina Indonesia, the national quarantine agency. Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.