What it takes for spice farmers to gain certification

What is shaping horticulture

Horticulture spans fruit, vegetables, flowers and plantation crops, with fast-moving prices and a high risk of post-harvest loss. Growers sell through mandis, traders and increasingly direct-to-buyer channels.

• Prices swing daily in mandi markets
• Post-harvest handling decides how much produce reaches buyers
• Organised retail and exporters set new quality standards

A spice exporter, working in Kerala & Karnataka. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A spice exporter

Sector

Horticulture

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Research consultancy

Buyers increasingly demanded certified sustainable spices, but few smallholders supplying the exporter held certification. The exporter wanted to know what stood in the way.

• Answer the core question: what it takes for spice farmers to gain certification.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of farmers surveyed.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.

The work focused on 650 farmers surveyed.

• farmers surveyed650

Audiences we typically reach in horticulture

Growers and orchard ownersCommission agents and tradersNurseriesFresh-produce retailersExporters and packhouses

Coverage: Kerala & Karnataka. Market: India.

• India

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Farmer interviews
3. 3Field practice survey
4. 4Insight

We interviewed farmers about their practices, costs and attitudes to certification, and surveyed a wider group to measure the gaps between current practice and certification standards.

Qualitative researchQuantitative researchResearch consultancy

farmers surveyed

650

• Respondents were selected across Kerala & Karnataka using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

40

• Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
• Time and location checks on field interviews
• Supervisor accompaniment in the field
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Record-keeping and inspection costs were the main barriers, not farming practices themselves.

Many farmers were closer to the standard than expected; the paperwork was the real gap.

• Build on the core insight: many farmers were closer to the standard than expected; the paperwork was the real gap.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: record-keeping and inspection costs were the main barriers, not farming practices themselves.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The exporter introduced group certification with shared record-keeping support.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: how do consumers buy fresh produce today?