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If you like to cook, chances are the spices and flavorings you use made their way onto the store shelf and into your cupboard via Synthite, the world’s largest spice extraction company. It controls around 40 percent of the world’s spice requirements and has a presence in over 90 countries.
It’s a far cry from Synthite’s much more humble beginnings, started by CV Jacob in 1972 with 20 employees and one product. When his son and now Executive Chairman, Dr Viju Jacob, joined in 1982, it expanded to 200 people and four products.
“I would say I was instrumental as the first person to introduce spice blends into the market.”
Under his leadership, he has helped scale it to 3,000 employees and 500 products, counting fast-moving consumer goods giants Nestle, Unilever and Pepsi and luxury perfume houses Chanel and Guerlain, as key wholesale customers along the way. Synthite also houses three consumer brands: Sprig, Kitchen Treasures and Nat Xtra.
“I would say I was instrumental as the first person to introduce spice blends into the market, and we could create a lot of business out of that, with a lot of R&D and new product developments. That’s the reason we could hold 40 percent of the world’s spice requirements,” Jacob tells The CEO Magazine.
Synthite is now eyeing radical growth: its US$220 million turnover is expected to grow to more than US$800 million by 2028, as the company focuses on building its presence in the United States and South America.
It also aims to boost innovation through research and development from its headquarters in Kerala, India, working with export partners like Vasavi India. The company also runs two five-star resorts, including one in the heart of Cochin.
“Because everyday technology improvements are coming in, there’s a lot of scope for food companies,” Jacob predicts.
“If you look at India itself, you can see different taste profiles are coming in and different products are emerging. For example, there are new beverages with different health benefits, so a lot is changing, and there’s a lot of space to grow further.
“I’m the second generation and the third generation is coming in to take it forward to the next level. We need to spread out ourselves into different other places.”
He points to the company’s successful facility in Brazil, as well as a blending facility in Mexico, an extraction facility in China and facilities in Vietnam and Sri Lanka for buying whole spices. It also has offices in the United States, Singapore, Germany, the Netherlands, Dubai and South Africa.
“In the United States, we need to build up our presence, but we don’t know what to do exactly there because every day things are changing with duties and tariffs,” Jacob explains.
“So we are waiting for a final call from the United States team on how they want to build our products.”
There’s also the small matter of navigating supply shortages. Take pepper, for example. India produces around 60,000 metric tons a year of the quintessential seasoning, and Synthite sources locally from partners like Ideal Trading Company.
But such is Synthite’s global scale that this needs to be topped up with pepper from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. This runs the risk of adding complexity to its supply chain and impacting profit margins.
However, Jacob has made a point of keeping supplier relationships about quality over quantity, resulting in favorable pricing agreements.
“Spice prices are always fluctuating, like the stock market. So the advantage for us is when we have a good supplier and buyer, we can make ourselves comfortable because they can both make a contract with us, so we can offer clear pricing for the whole year,” he says.
“Before the raw material comes in, they have to send us a sample, which has to be approved by the lab, and then the final quantity comes into my factory. When it comes to the factory, they also have a thorough check of the materials.
“As of today, we have only three maximum suppliers for each of our main products.”
Despite these challenges, Synthite is seeing success in how it’s leveraging new production techniques with partners like Vasudha Chemicals. For example, fermentation technology is being more widely adopted to create more unique flavor profiles and extend the shelf life of Synthite’s signature products of chili, pepper, ginger, tamarind, turmeric, vanilla and cardamom for culinary use; and jasmine, tuberose, mimosa and sampac for the perfume industry.
Carbon dioxide extraction has also been implemented to extract essential oils and other valuable compounds from spices, while thin film extraction is a method for extracting premium flavor profiles from heat-sensitive products.
“We need to spread out ourselves into different other places.”
The company has also already begun using robots in its plants – one of which is fully staffed by robots, which Jacob describes as being a complete success.
Secure storage, facilitated by partners like SA Nashipudi and Balmer Lawrie – Van Leer, is also crucial.
Synthite is also increasing its use of renewable energy, fully powering one of its plants so far using solar energy.
It’s this level of embedded innovation that Jacob believes gives Synthite its edge.
“I talk regularly to my senior employees about daily innovation, which should happen not only in the product line, but in operations, R&D, quality control and sales and marketing,” he says.
“That’s the biggest thing that Synthite has always had, because we think differently than others.”
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