Ceylon: A World of Spices, Coffee & Tea

Before Ceylon had an export industry, it already had an international market. As early as 2,000 BC, cinnamon from the island was travelling along ancient spice routes towards the Middle East. In the centuries that followed, Ceylon became increasingly connected to trading networks spanning Asia, the Middle East and Europe, its spices passing through the hands of merchants long before the emergence of the modern export trade. Successive European trading powers competed for control of this commerce, while Ceylon's export economy gradually expanded beyond cinnamon to pepper, cloves, nutmeg, coffee, tea and other agricultural commodities.

Cinnamon and the Making of Ceylon's Reputation

The enduring name Ceylon Cinnamon reflects how closely the spice became associated with the island in international commerce. Native to Sri Lanka, true cinnamon is botanically distinct from other varieties commonly traded as cinnamon. Its accepted botanical name today is Cinnamomum verum, while the earlier name Cinnamomum zeylanicum - associating the species with Ceylon - remains a striking reminder of that connection.

By the sixteenth century, cinnamon was shaping the commercial geography of Ceylon itself. When the Portuguese established themselves on the island, Colombo emerged as a principal trading centre, its position closely connected to the cinnamon trade.

The Dutch subsequently expanded commercial cinnamon cultivation, establishing gardens across the western and southern regions of Ceylon and developing a more systematic industry around its export. Its importance to Dutch trade was reflected even in the official imagery used during their administration of the island: an elephant carrying a cinnamon branch was depicted alongside bales of cinnamon - a striking indication of how closely the spice had become associated with Ceylon's commercial identity.

When the British took control of Ceylon's maritime territories in 1796, they inherited this established trade and retained the cinnamon monopoly until 1833. Coffee, and later tea, would rise to prominence during the nineteenth century, changing the island's export economy once again.

Spices Beyond Cinnamon

Cinnamon gave Ceylon its most enduring identity in the spice trade, but the agricultural character of the island extended far beyond it. Pepper, cloves, nutmeg and mace became part of a broader export tradition, each valued for qualities particular to the crops grown here.

Sri Lankan black pepper, for instance, is recognised for its comparatively high piperine content, which gives the spice its characteristic pungency, alongside the essential oils that contribute to its aroma. Cloves are similarly notable for their oil content, while Sri Lankan nutmeg is valued for its aromatic and essential-oil characteristics.

These distinctions still matter to international buyers. In a global market where spices are traded in enormous volumes, Ceylon's place has never rested on scale alone. Much of its value lies in the character of what is grown here - its origin, composition, aroma and natural oil content - qualities that continue to distinguish Sri Lankan spices in markets around the world.

A New Chapter in an Old Trade: Coffee

After the cinnamon monopoly ended in 1833, coffee rose rapidly to become one of Ceylon's great exports. When a fungal disease known as coffee leaf rust struck the island in 1869, the industry entered a prolonged decline and Ceylon lost its position as a major coffee producer. Tea increasingly took its place. Coffee, however, never disappeared; it continued to be cultivated on a considerably smaller scale into the twentieth century.

By independence in 1948, more than a century of commercial infrastructure, institutions and trading knowledge had developed around the movement of agricultural produce from the island to markets across the world. The decades that followed brought another transition: from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, and into a new era of international trade.

It was within this changing landscape, in 1971, that my late grandfather, V. P. Rajan, founded Seven Seas Exports Ceylon - known as Seven Seas Holdings Ceylon today. Our export journey began in the heart of Colombo, with our production facility situated close to the city's historic port. Among the company's earliest exports were coffee and cocoa beans, placing my grandfather within a commodity trade whose roots in Ceylon reached back generations.

By the early 1980s, Seven Seas Holdings Ceylon had established a strong presence in international coffee markets, with growing overseas demand for its Ceylon coffee beans. My grandfather was instrumental in expanding this trade, working with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry to secure the framework required for Sri Lankan coffee to enter international markets under the International Coffee Organization (ICO) Certificate of Origin.

The resulting approval opened the way for Sri Lanka to export an initial 5,000 metric tonnes of coffee, with Seven Seas supplying a substantial share of that volume.

For my grandfather, it represented another international market opened through persistence and trade. For Sri Lankan coffee, its significance reached beyond our company: a pathway had been created through which the country's coffee could reach overseas buyers on a considerably larger scale.

Ceylon Tea and the World Beyond

In 2006, our family business entered another of the island's great export traditions: Ceylon Tea. It was a natural progression for a company that had spent the preceding thirty-five years taking Ceylon produce beyond its shores, with tea joining the spices, coffee beans, cocoa beans and other agricultural commodities we had carried to markets overseas.

Today, more than half a century after my grandfather founded Seven Seas, our produce has reached more than 50 countries worldwide, with the business now continuing into its third generation. Ceylon is still on its way to the world.

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Nikhita Shuhumar

September 2026