Cinnamon has been used as a spice for millennia in India, Sri Lanka, and China. The evergreen "true" cinnamon trees (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, also Cinnamomun verum) for our cinnamon powder are predominantly grown by smallholder farmers adhering to traditional, sustainable cultivation in India. The cooperation between the farmers supports regional development and enables the use of new processing technology after harvest.
Hand-harvesting of the cinnamon bark takes place from May to June just before the annual monsoon rain as well as from October to December before the winter. The outer bark is carefully removed from thin branches with a carpenter's plane so that the desirable inner bark can be gently peeled off with a knife. Several of these inner layers are layered and rolled together into a stick before being wrapped in mats for drying and fermentation.
