The commodities library.
Sixty products, six categories. A distilled reference for serious buyers, covering botany, history, grades, and the global market for every commodity we trade.
Nuts
Tree Nuts9 items
Eighty percent of the world's almonds grow in one California valley. A single way of farming runs the market.
Cashews don't grow on the tree. They hang beneath the fruit, sealed in a toxic shell that only trained hands can open.
The brain that looks like a brain. Packed with the omega-3s that keep the real one running.
The state tree of Texas. Slow to grow, lives a hundred years, and produces the only native American tree nut.
The nut that smiles. A shell that splits on its own: the mark of perfect ripeness.
Seventy percent of the world's hazelnuts grow within a half-kilometer ring around the Black Sea. Turkey runs the market.
The world's most expensive nut, with the world's hardest shell. Only specialized machines can crack it.
Only grows in pristine Amazon rainforest. Can't be farmed commercially. Every harvest is a hunt.
Not a nut at all. It's a legume. Grows underground, harvested like a potato.
Dried Fruit
Dried Fruits15 items
The fruit that fed civilizations. Medjool, Deglet Noor, Barhi. Each variety is its own story of climate and soil.
The plum that stayed. Drying concentrates the sugar, preserves the fiber, creates one of the most nutritionally dense fruits.
Bright orange in Turkey, deep brown in Pakistan. The color tells you everything about the drying method.
A grape that decided to stay. Thompson Seedless from California, Sultana from Turkey. Two different worlds.
Grown in bogs, harvested in flooded fields. The most dramatic American harvest.
The king of tropical fruit in concentrated form. Sweetness of fresh fruit, shelf life that lasts.
The oldest fruit humanity ever cultivated. What look like seeds are tiny flowers that never opened.
One of the most volatile commodities in dried fruit. Short season, year-round demand.
Montmorency or Bing. Tart versus sweet. Two different personalities, two different markets.
The wolfberry from Ningxia. A superfood market that never cooled off.
The Incan fruit that found Europe. Sweet-tart profile, high vitamin C, demand rising fast.
Sun-drying concentrates ten tomatoes into one bite of flavor. Mediterranean classic, global demand.
A Siberian superfood with more vitamin C than lemon. 190 nutrients in extreme conditions.
Tropical sweetness in a convenient format. Drying that preserves bromelain.
A fruit that harvests every nine months. Contains papain, the proteolytic enzyme.
Seeds
Seeds6 items
The oldest seed humanity ever grew for oil. Ethiopia, India, Myanmar. Each origin with its own flavor signature.
The seed that absorbs ten times its weight in water. Aztec warrior food turned superfood-era staple.
One of the oldest cultivated crops on earth. The first cloth humans made. Today it's mostly about omega-3.
A seed that grew inside a fruit grown for its sake. Magnesium and zinc levels few other foods come close to.
The flower that tracks the sun. Each head carries up to 2,000 seeds in a perfect Fibonacci spiral.
"Heals everything but death." Found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Cornerstone of the natural-medicine market.
Spices
Spices20 items
The king of spices. Vietnam, India, Indonesia. ASTA 550-600 sets the grade.
3% curcumin is the standard. The wellness market doubled demand in a decade.
The world's third most expensive spice. Guatemala has taken over the market.
India produces 70% of global supply. A volatile market with a sharp uptrend.
True Cinnamon. Sri Lanka only. Trades at 3× the price of cassia.
Fresh, dried, gingerol-concentrated. MRL issues out of China require sharp QC.
Spain versus Hungary. ASTA 80, 100, 120. Color concentration is the whole game.
The most expensive in the world. 200,000 flowers per kilogram. Iran controls 90%.
A flower harvested before it opens. The Spice Islands of Indonesia.
Grown by hand, pollinated by hand. Madagascar produces 80% of the world's supply.
An eight-pointed star. Unusual demand from pharma for shikimic acid extraction.
The sour salt of the Middle East. Demand climbing with Mediterranean cuisine.
Pizza took over the world, and oregano rode along with it.
The backbone of za'atar. The herb of honor across the Levant.
China produces 80% of the world's supply. Flakes, granulated, powder.
The seed that tastes like licorice. A classic in Italian sausage.
European rye bread doesn't exist without it. Netherlands, Egypt.
Smells like maple syrup. Used as a natural mimic in food manufacturing.
The blue seed is the kosher story. The regulatory headaches don't quit.
Scoville sets the price. From the easygoing jalapeño all the way to the Carolina Reaper.
Legumes
Legumes6 items
The legume that became a brand. Kabuli versus Desi. Global demand up 40% in a decade.
Red, Green, Black Beluga. Every color is its own market. Canada runs production.
The legume that feeds the world. 80% of the crop goes into animal feed.
One of the oldest legumes on earth. Base of Middle Eastern cuisine and the new plant-protein industry.
Split peas for the soup industry. Whole green for retail. Canada leads.
Pinto, Navy, Kidney, Black. Each variety is its own market, season, and logistics chain.
Grains
Grains4 items
The mother of all grains. 7,000 years of Andean cultivation. A complete protein.
Not wheat, not a grain. A relative of rhubarb. Gluten-free, rich in rutin.
The grain that fed Africa. Drought-resistant, gluten-free, expanding into Western markets.
Green wheat, intentionally fire-roasted. A smoky, deep flavor you can't get any other way.