Sarada de Silva to assist East African spice exporters enter EU market

Respected spice exporter Sarada de Silva will assist East African spice exporters to access European Union (EU) markets under an EU-assisted project, in his capacity as Consultant to the Geneva-based International Trade Centre of the World Trade Organization.

Sarada de Silva

The major spices exported by the East African community are cloves, pepper, ginger and turmeric. The EU assistance project is known as ‘MARKUP’.  

De Silva is a Past President of the National Chamber of Exporters Sri Lanka and the Founder Chairman of the Spice Council of Sri Lanka and Cinnamon Training Academy. He possesses over 45 years’ experience in the spice sector.

Under this project, De Silva will accompany a group of East African community exporters to spice processing plants in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and to the ‘Food Ingredients Europe and Natural Ingredients Trade Fair’ to be held in Paris from 1-5 December. The program will also include visits to the Rotterdam Port, the spice warehouse in Moerkapelle and a spice processing factory in Verstegen.

The Food Ingredients Europe and Natural Ingredients Trade Fair which the group will visit is the leading food and beverage ingredients platform. It offers businesses a proven route to market their products to a truly global audience. It also helps businesses to successfully differentiate their companies in the competitive food ingredients industry as the world’s leading food and beverage platform. It also brings together the world’s leading food and beverage suppliers to showcase the most diverse range of new and innovative ingredients and services.  This fair has attracted over 500,000 people to date, with billions of Euros in business generated as a result.