Sarada De Silva to address World Spice Congress 2023

• The World Spice Congress 2023 will create a platform for buyers and sellers to discuss issues, share learnings and evolve best practices in spice trade

Spice Council of Sri Lanka Emeritus and Founder Chairman Sarada De Silva has been invited by the organisers of the World Spice Congress (WSC) to address on “Ceylon Spices” being held from 15 to 17 September in Navi-Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. This Spice Conference is being held as part of the G20 Summit under Indian leadership. 

WSC is being held physically after three years and over 1700 delegates in the spice industry from all over to world are due to attend, especially as it is part of the G20 summit. Many large scale actors in the spice industry will interact under the above theme to discuss future trends and conduct business under the theme “Vision 2030 – SPICES”, where ‘S’ stands for Sustainability; ‘P’-Productivity; ‘I’-innovation; ‘C’-Collaboration; ‘E’- Excellence & and ‘S’-Safety

Some of the key highlights of the WSC-2023 will be (a) the carefully crafted business sessions on themes that are most relevant to the global spice trade; (b) the excellent opportunity it provides to the global spice industry to meet under a single roof for direct business interactions; (c) the grand exhibition with more than 150 stalls, to showcase the strengths, capabilities, product range, latest innovations, etc. in spices sector before the most relevant global audience; and (d) the spice experience zone’, commodity pavilion, etc., that are planned at the venue, to provide an authentic and magnificent experience, both culinary and cultural, to the invited guests and delegates from abroad.

World Spice Congress (WSC), the conglomeration of the global spice industry, has become the most apt platform to deliberate the concerns and considerations of the sector over its three decades long presence. Organised under the leadership of Spices Board, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India with support from various trade and export forums, the World Spice Congress provides opportunity to get to know the sector in a better way. Trade, sustainability, quality and food safety initiatives, recent developments, concerns and future prospects are discussed and deliberated in detail by the key players of the industry – the producers, traders, processors, exporters and regulators from across the world.

Since its inception in 1990, the WSC could successfully bring together the global perspectives in the spice sector to its ambient ranging from the traditional food and beverages to the most advanced examinations for nutraceuticals and nootropics. It has been a much sought after and well attended event. Spices have progressed a great deal from the traditional culinary aspect to astounding utilities in food preservation, food safety, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, cosmetics, natural colorants and much more.

The congress will discuss on customised production of quality spices to meet the requirements of the consumers, thrust on organic production, ways to arrive at a consensus on the wide and varied trade and quality regulations, value addition, product innovation and new initiatives, integrating the supply chain for better output and better understanding of the challenges and prospects of the industry, etc. India, the spice hub of the world, once again takes the lead and welcomes the global spice fraternity to join in its concerted efforts to spice up the world. 

World Spice Congress – key attractions

• State-of-the-art beautiful venue
• Meet the global spice fraternity under a roof
• A bigger, diverse and grand exhibition
• Insightful business sessions
• Awards Nights – Distribution of Awards for excellence in export of spices
• Spice experience zone
• Authentic Indian experience – cultural, culinary
• Excellent brand promotional opportunity

 World Spice Congress is attended by over 1700 spice industry value chain actors and policy makers from both the public and private sector from all over the world. They will develop key policy initiatives for the growth and sustainability of worlds spice industry.

During the conference there will be a meeting International Organisation of Spice Trading Associations (IOSTA) to map out the future strategy for better coordination and interaction amongst Spice Associations from around the world to meet the challenges. De Silva was one of the main actors instrumental in starting the IOSTA two decades ago and the Spice Council of Sri Lanka is a founder member.

De Silva is a doyen of the spice industry and a leading figure in the cinnamon industry, counts on nearly 50 years of experience as a grower, producer, processor and exporter. His initiatives have led to the first few ISO22000 certified cinnamon processing factories, obtaining Geographical Indications (GI) for Ceylon Cinnamon – a first for Sri Lanka and establishment of the Cinnamon Training Academy to train all actors of the industry under international standards and National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ). It is the only Tertiary & Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) accredited and approved to issue NVQ levels 3 & 4.