Assessment of the prospects in value addition of selected spices: A study with special reference to Karnataka and Kerala

Indian spices are known for their aroma and flavour widely rigorous in the international and domestic market. The Black pepper “King of Spices” and Cardamom (small) “Queen of Spices” are predominantly grown in the regions of Chikmangalore, Shimoga, Idukki and Ernakulam, the former two of state Karnataka and latter to Kerala. These selected spices supply chain differs from other agricultural commodities due to long gestation period and small, marginal growers. Thus, black pepper and Cardamom are considered to be the potential spices for value addition. It holds a huge export potential than the traditional raw spice export. A study was conducted to assess the consumer preference towards various attributes in quality of spices was studied by confronting attributes like prices, usage of branded spices, switching pattern from branded spices to other and willing to pay more to get the desired quality were analyses using SPSS software. Among the selected districts, 34.75 per cent of consumers are brand conscious, specifically Chikmangalore shows the highest preference for branded spices. Hence, this district was found suitable for marketing of value added spices.