For those who have been researching or trying to understand the market for cloves may come across the terms of Cloves 'Lal Pari' and 'Zanzibar'. These terms have been used interchangeably between exporters and importers of this spice which created a confusion on the actual difference between those two.
The truth is both terms simply cannot be compared. This is because Lal Pari is the quality grade while Zanzibar is the type of cloves. Getting confused now? Let us give you a little bit of context to this statement, let's take a step back and look at the different type of cloves.
There are mainly 4 (four) different type of cloves that is authentic from Indonesia.
Zanzibar is considered the most common varieties to be traded in Indonesia. This variety are mostly preferred by farmers due to its eugenol content to be higher than the other 3 (three) varieties. (The higher the eugenol content of a clove, the better the quality of it). In addition, this type of cloves can be harvested 4-5 years after the first planting.
These 3 (three) last type of cloves are not commonly planted by farmers due to its low level of output per tree. In addition to that, these varieties usually can be harvested after 7 years. Due to the low level of production per tree and generally longer harvest time, these type of cloves are rarely known even by the experienced supplier of cloves.
In contrast, Lal Pari is the quality grade of Cloves. Generally, the grade of cloves are based on several factors such as water content, dust, and stems.
Lal Pari is derived from Hindi meaning 'brown-reddish'. This quality type of cloves has a distinct color of brown-reddish and is completely different from the cloves used for the production of cigarette which is dark-brown. Lal Pari quality cloves typically has a higher water content and typically need to be dried as soon as possible after harvest. This quality grade is the international standard for food spices around the world.
