Buying turmeric in Bangladesh
Turmeric is a rhizome that is usually boiled in water, dried and sold whole as fingers or ground into a deep orange-yellow powder. Packers, food makers and caterers in Bangladesh buy it in bulk, and the powder is on BSTI's mandatory certification list. Exports are modest: in FY2025-26 a little over half of Bangladesh's turmeric exports went in packs of 2.5 kg or less, the rest in bulk.
A turmeric exporter in Bangladesh is judged on what the lab finds, not on how yellow the powder looks. A 2019 Stanford-led study reported that some processors in Bangladesh used an industrial lead chromate pigment to colour turmeric, so Roptan has every lot tested for lead and chromium by an accredited lab, with curcumin, moisture and cleanliness, before it ships.
How to brief a turmeric exporter in Bangladesh
- Form and fineness
- Fingers or powder, and for powder the particle size. Ask whether the fingers were boiled before drying, the usual process.
- Curcumin
- A curcumin minimum and the test method, not 'bright yellow'. Assayed commercial powders average about 3 percent curcumin, and colour alone can be faked.
- Colouring power
- ISO 5566 measures colouring power by spectrophotometry. It dates from 1982, so ask which method and edition the lab used.
- Lead and chromium
- Both metals on every lot, by an accredited lab, against the limit your market sets.
- Moisture and cleanliness
- Limits with methods named: ISO 939 for moisture, ISO 930 for acid-insoluble ash, ISO 927 for extraneous matter.
- Microbes and mycotoxins
- Salmonella by ISO 6579-1, yeasts and moulds by ISO 21527-2 and, for the EU, aflatoxins and ochratoxin A.
Standards and tests for turmeric
- ISO 5562
- The ISO specification for turmeric, whole or ground. It is still listed as valid but dates from 1983, so write the clauses and limits you rely on into the contract.
- BSTI CM licence
- Turmeric powder is on BSTI's mandatory list. A Bangladeshi processor selling it at home needs the CM licence, granted after a factory inspection and lab tests and valid three years.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/915
- Holds the EU maximum levels that usually apply to turmeric for lead, aflatoxins and ochratoxin A. Fresh rhizome has its own lead row, so name the form.
- ISO 948
- Sets how a spice lot is sampled. A metals result is only as good as the sample, so ask the lab to state its sampling method.
- ESA Quality Minima
- European Spice Association minima for turmeric on a dry basis: ash at most 8 percent whole or 9 percent ground, acid-insoluble ash 2 or 2.5 percent, moisture 12 or 10 percent, volatile oil at least 2.5 or 1.5 ml per 100 g.
Lead times and delivery
No fixed lead time can be given for turmeric. Fingers or powder already in stock ship sooner than an order that waits for a new grind, and retail packs under your label take longer because artwork and printed film come first. Metal and mycotoxin results for each lot must be back before loading. Roptan confirms the dates and the minimum order in the quote.
Inside Bangladesh, Roptan delivers turmeric to packers, food makers, restaurants and hotels in lined sacks or cartons labelled with the lot. The lab report comes with the delivery note and a VAT invoice (Mushak 6.3). Powder takes up moisture in humid weather, so it is kept sealed and dry.
Buying turmeric for export
Roptan quotes turmeric FOB Chattogram, or CFR or CIF to your port, with samples by air from Dhaka. The US FDA issued import alerts on turmeric from India and Bangladesh between 2013 and 2019 over lead, so importers usually ask for the lead result first. Documents: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, a REX origin statement for EU GSP where it applies, and the lab reports.
Questions buyers ask
Should I buy turmeric fingers or powder?
Fingers if you grind yourself or ship far, because whole spice keeps for roughly two years and ground spice for about six months. Powder if you pack or cook with it directly. Either way, test the form you receive: a result on fingers says nothing about powder ground later.
What curcumin content should I ask for?
Set a minimum that suits your use and name the method. Assayed commercial turmeric powders average about 3 percent curcumin, so a bright powder with a much lower result deserves questions. Colouring power by ISO 5566 is another measure; agree which one the contract uses.
Can turmeric be tested for lead in Bangladesh?
Yes. BSTI's chemistry wing lists atomic absorption, ICP-OES and ED-XRF laboratories, and private labs test metals too. Ask any lab for its accreditation scope, so you know metals in food are covered before you rely on its report.
Which Bangladeshi law covers adulterated food?
The Food Safety Act 2013. The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, formed under it in February 2015, has its own mobile court that can fine and sentence people for food adulteration. That is a risk for any seller, but it does not replace a lab report on your lot.
How soon will I hear back about spices and tea?
Within 48 hours of a complete requirement, with a price and a delivery date. A requirement is complete when it has the quantity, where it is needed and by when.
Who do I deal with?
With Roptan, when Roptan manages the order: we buy from the verified seller and deliver to you. With the supplier directly, when you post on the requirement board and choose a quote yourself.
