Narrator: In the forests of South India,
harvesters climb trees as tall as 50 feet
to handpick these clove buds.
When exported, less than half a pound
of these dried cloves costs $30.
That's 10 times as much as some cumin.
But as they focus on keeping their balance,
harvesters must also be careful not to break the buds.
If they do, the value of the clove drops significantly,
and that's just where the risk begins.
To harvest cloves correctly,
workers put their lives on the line.
So what makes cloves worth the risks?
And why are they so expensive?
Cloves are the flower buds of clove trees
that haven't blossomed yet.
When dried, they're commonly used as a spice.
A clove's flavor is complex,
with notes of sweetness, bitterness, and heat.
The oil found in cloves has medicinal properties
that make the spice valuable outside of just cooking.
Cloves with the round head, or crown, still intact
have the most oil.
But to get cloves with the highest possible oil content,
highly skilled workers are needed at every stage.
Narrator: To get to the top of the trees,
harvesters like Shibu rely on only a ladder and some rope.
Narrator: He reinforces the bottom of the ladder with mud,
so it doesn't move as he navigates the tall tree.
Shibu ties a sack to his waist,
and then he starts his climb,
working his way from the top of the tree to the bottom.
Harvesters can't pick too soon or too late,
or the cloves will drop in grade and value.
In addition to picking at the exact right time
and being careful not to harm the clove bud,
they need to be sure
not to break the tree branches they climb.
Otherwise, the tree will have a lower yield
next harvesting season.
Navigating all these elements can be extremely dangerous.
In Blackrock Estates, harvesting cloves has led to death.
Narrator: Yet handpicking is the only way
farms like Blackrock Estate have managed
to keep delivering quality cloves.
Because timing is crucial, Charles needs a big team
to pick the cloves as soon as they're ready,
which is usually mid to late February.
Charles can sell the cloves for their highest price
in the first 25 days of the harvesting season.
The more he can harvest during this time,
the better it is for business.
Narrator: During peak harvesting season,
these workers make around $30 a day on average.
Once the clove clusters are picked,
harvesters carefully remove the individual buds
from the stalks and leaves.
They sift and sort each bud according to its size,
age, and whether it has a top.
It's best if the circular crown of the clove,
where it would otherwise flower, is still intact.
This improves the spice's taste and aroma.
Even though there are machines to help with this process,
Charles prefers to pay for it to be done by hand
to lower the risk of clove damage.
Narrator: The highest-quality cloves
were picked at the right time,
just before they turned pink or flowered.
They're large and plump and still have the crown.
Second-quality cloves also still have their tops,
but they're smaller.
They were either picked too early or too late.
And the third quality has no crown,
with the top having either flowered or broken off.
After the sorting, workers leave the cloves out
to dry in the sun.
High-quality cloves take three days to dry
under good sunlight.
But a quality clove won't always get sold
as the highest grade, because official grading
doesn't happen until after it's dry.
If there's too little or too much sun,
the clove's quality drops.
Instead of golden brown, it becomes black,
and it loses one of its most valuable properties,
its oil content.
First-quality cloves are the most fragrant
and have the highest oil content.
The headless third-quality cloves have the least.
And the difference shows in the price.
Charles sells his first-quality cloves
for about $10 a kilogram
and his lowest grade for under $7.
Clove oil is mostly made up of the compound eugenol,
which is not only responsible
for the clove's familiar aroma,
but also for its medicinal benefits.
Researchers have noted eugenol has antimicrobial,
anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving,
and antioxidant properties.
So the demand for cloves goes beyond their culinary uses.
Cloves are so sought after in India
that Charles is able to sell more than just the buds.
Narrator: That's also because the cloves he grows,
Kanniyakumari cloves, are known for
their high oil content and strong aroma.
In fact, these cloves were awarded a GI indication in 2021.
Charles says Kanniyakumari cloves
are the most expensive variety in India.
Narrator: The retail price is so much higher
because of the supply chain.
To maximize on profits for the farm,
Charles won't sell his cloves directly to consumers,
who only buy smaller amounts as needed.
Instead, he sells to clove dealers,
who buy large quantities.
Dealers like Franklin Roosevelt
then have to keep the cloves fresh
until they sell them to retailers.
If he doesn't store the cloves properly,
their shelf life drops.
Narrator: To cover the cost of quality control,
Franklin sells cloves to stores for almost $12 a kilo.
The shops that buy from Franklin
have to pay transportation and packaging costs,
bringing the retail price of cloves in India even higher.
But one of the biggest challenges
in every step of the supply chain
has been the changing climate.
Narrator: Between 2018 and 2019,
India lost 13 metric tons of cloves due to heavy rainfall.
And while the global clove market is expected to grow
by 3.5% by 2027,
the changing climate may still continue
to disproportionately burden clove farmers.