Home · Process

From soil to shipment, in fifteen steps.

Most exporters show you the warehouse and the container. We'll show you the whole journey — every stage that turns a tiny seed into the deep-red, sun-cured, lab-tested, export-grade chilli that lands in your country.

The complete chilli lifecycle.

A growing season of roughly 150 days from sowing to red harvest, followed by 5–7 days of sun-curing and several days of grading before any pod earns a spot in an export bag. Each stage below corresponds to a real point in our farmer-supplier and warehouse calendar.

1 Farmer plowing dark fertile soil to prepare a chilli field
Plowing the Soil

Loosen and turn the soil to prepare a fertile bed.

2 Hand placing chilli seed into the prepared soil
Sowing the Seed

Place seeds in the soil and cover gently.

3 Green chilli sprout pushing through dark soil
Germination

The seed sprouts and pushes through the soil.

4 Young chilli seedling with first true leaves
Young Plant

The seedling grows and develops more leaves.

5 Bushy green chilli plant in mid-growth stage
Growing Plant

The plant grows bigger and becomes bushy.

6 Small white chilli flowers blooming on the plant
Flowering

White flowers bloom on the plant.

7 Tiny green chilli nubs forming after the flowers
Fruit Set

Tiny green chilli nubs appear after flowering.

8 Long deep-green chillies hanging from the plant
Green Chilli

Chillies grow bigger and turn deep green.

9 Bright red ripe chillies on the plant ready for harvest
Red Ripening

Chillies ripen and turn bright red.

10 Hand plucking a ripe red chilli from the plant
Plucking

Ripe red chillies are plucked from the plant.

11 Basket full of freshly harvested red chillies
Gathering

Freshly plucked chillies are collected in baskets.

12 Red chillies spread out drying in the sun
Sun Drying

Chillies are spread under the sun to dry for several days.

13 Hand-sorted dried chillies in baskets by quality
Segregating

Dried chillies are sorted by size, colour and quality.

14 Dried chillies packed neatly in export-ready bags
Packing

Sorted chillies are packed neatly for storage or sale.

15 Packed dried chilli bags stored ready for shipment
Storage / Sale

Packed chillies are stored safely and ready for sale.

Quality Control

Five checkpoints between harvest and your container.

The 15-step lifecycle ends at "storage." But for an export-grade lot, that's where our work really begins. Here's what we do between the warehouse and the bill of lading.

Moisture testing

Every lot tested with a calibrated moisture meter. Anything above 10% is rejected or sent back for further drying — high moisture is the #1 cause of rejected containers.

ASTA colour

Lab-measured pigment value (American Spice Trade Association units). Critical for buyers who blend by colour rather than weight — Byadgi 100+, Kashmiri 110+, Guntur 32+.

Aflatoxin & residue

Tested at NABL-approved labs for aflatoxin (ppb), pesticide residue, and microbial load. We share the COA before container loading, not after.

Physical grading

Sorted by length, colour uniformity, broken percentage, and stem condition. Foreign matter (dust, leaves, stones) brought to under 1% by hand-sorting under tube-light inspection.

Fumigation

Post-pack fumigation per importing country's phytosanitary requirements. Methyl bromide or aluminium phosphide depending on destination, with treatment certificate enclosed.

Export Flow

From PO to port.

Once we agree on price and spec, here's how the next 18 to 30 days typically unfold.

  1. DAY 0 — PO RECEIVED

    Purchase order confirmed

    Variety, grade, packaging, port, payment term, target ETA all locked. Pro-forma invoice issued; advance / LC initiated.

  2. DAYS 1–5 — PROCUREMENT

    Lot picked

    Procurement head walks the yard, picks lots matching your spec, samples sent to lab.

  3. DAYS 6–8 — SAMPLE SHARED

    Pre-shipment sample

    Pre-shipment sample dispatched by courier and digital photos shared via WhatsApp.

  4. DAYS 9–14 — GRADING & PACK

    Sort, pack, mark

    Lot graded, packed in agreed bag type, marked with shipping marks, palletised if required.

  5. DAYS 15–18 — DOCUMENTATION

    Papers in order

    Phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, fumigation certificate, COA, packing list and commercial invoice prepared.

  6. DAYS 18–25 — SAILING

    Container at port

    Container moved to Krishnapatnam / Chennai / Nhava Sheva. Bill of lading issued post sailing. Documents released as per payment term.

Want to walk the warehouse virtually?

We send a 3-minute walkthrough video — drying yard, sorting line, packing bay, dispatch dock — to every serious enquiry. Just ask for it.

Request the walkthrough →