The sixth edition of the International Spice Conference will be held from January 19 to 22 at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai. The conference is hosted by the All-India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF), which represents spice exporters from India, and the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Over 1,000 delegates will attend the four-day meet, including representatives from various States, industry leaders from 50 countries, representatives of international spice associations, policymakers, farmers, processors, traders, testing and regulatory authorities, professionals from the food, spices and herbs industry, ingredients manufacturing, fragrances and flavours industry, representatives of associations of food and allied services, and government functionaries.

MM Murugappan, Chairman of Carborundum Universal Limited, will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural function on Thursday. Sanjeev Bisht, Chairman, All India Spices Exporters Forum, will preside. Anand Venkitraman, Vice-President, Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Cherian Xavier, Chairman, International Spice Conference 2023; and Emmanuel Nambusseril, Vice-Chairman, AISEF, will attend the meet.

Focus on value-addition

The conference aims to address the problems faced by the spice industry in the post-Covid era, including a tight economy and limited crop supply. The sessions will focus especially on long-term and fair solutions for developing value-added applications while retaining the quality and affordability of spice production.

The conference, themed ‘Reboot; Rebound — Beyond the New Normal’, will look for ways to bring the business back stronger than before, Emmanuel Nambusseril said.

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Multi-track sessions and panel discussions will cover current issues involving the spices sector.

Experts will present crop reports on chilli, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and dehydrates.

The meet will also release the AISEF–YES Bank report ‘Spices of India: Strides towards market-driven imperatives’.