Fig 1.
Cinnamon market share & types.
(A): Market share (%) of the leading global cinnamon exporters & importers. Indonesia, holds the highest export market share, leads the global cinnamon exports followed by China. Sri Lanka, 4th largest supplier to the world cinnamon market while act as the leading supplier of true cinnamon (82%). USA dominated the cinnamon imports by placing the EU, historical leader into second place. (B): Composition of Ceylon cinnamon export basket & export destinations. Ceylon or true cinnamon exports cater both residential and commercial market segments globally. Mexico has emerged as one of the leading consumers of Ceylon cinnamon together with Latin America placing USA and EU into second place.
Fig 2.
The images of Cassia vs Ceylon cinnamon to compare the morphological characteristics.
Morphological characteristics of leaves, flowers, fruit, unprocessed bark and processed bark of C. zeylanicum Vs C. cassia is graphically compared.
Fig 3.
Process of the research.
Table 1.
Consumer profile of the focus group discussions.
Fig 4.
Blueprint of the clean labels.
An overview of the types of claims displayed on the labels of cinnamon value added retail packs. Organic, natural, clear information, list of ingredients and traceability are sub claims of clean label claims. Nutrition claims mainly appeared as nutrient content, specific and general health claims. Country of origin, manufacturer, brand, allergens, irradiation free, non GMO, method of processing, vegetarian were other common claims. Symbols of standards and certifications appear as evidence for the consumers.
Table 2.
Coumarin content of cinnamon.
Fig 5.
Cinnamon label claims in deferent markets.
(a) Label claims of the cinnamon quills available in the main markets. Null hypothesis was rejected (Decision rule p≤ 0.05); there was a significant association between markets and label claims of cinnamon quills. Common name, pure Ceylon cinnamon logo, health claims, nutrient profile, cassia cinnamon, botanical name, and ingredients showed significant relationship. Label attributes; Country of origin (p = 0.465), Common Name (p = 0.025), Pure Ceylon cinnamon logo (p = 0.039), Health claim (p = 0.042), Nutrient profile (p = 0.042), Ceylon cinnamon (p = 0.176), Cassia cinnamon (p = 0.034), Botanical name (p = 0.042), Ingredients (p = 0.025), Standards & Certifications (p = 1.000), Consumer warnings (p = 0.080), and Special claims (p = 0.068) were considered for the hypothesis testing. (b) Label claims of the cinnamon powder available in the main markets. Null hypothesis was rejected (Decision rule p≤ 0.05); there was a significant association between markets and label claims of cinnamon powder. Common name, pure Ceylon cinnamon logo, health claims, cassia cinnamon, and botanical name showed significant relationship. Label attributes; Country of origin (p = 0.492), Common Name (p = 0.025), Pure Ceylon cinnamon logo (p = 0.039), Health claim (p = 0.039), Nutrient profile (p = 0.102), Ceylon cinnamon (p = 0.498), Cassia cinnamon (p = 0.039), Botanical name (p = 0.031), Ingredients (p = 0.066), Standards & Certifications (p = 0.498), Consumer warnings (p = 0.068), and Special claims (p = 0.786) were considered for the hypothesis testing. (c) Label claims of the cinnamon tea available in the main markets. Null hypothesis was rejected (Decision rule p≤ 0.05); there was a significant association between markets on label claims of cinnamon tea. Common name, pure, cassia cinnamon, botanical name, ingredients and consumer warnings showed significant relationship. Label attributes; Country of origin (p = 0.258), Common Name (p = 0.025), Pure Ceylon cinnamon logo (p = 0.066), Health claim (p = 0.715), Nutrient profile (p = 0.345), Ceylon cinnamon (p = 0.684), Cassia cinnamon (p = 0.025), Botanical name (p = 0.034), Ingredients (p = 0.025), Standards & Certifications (p = 0.465), Consumer warnings (p = 0.034), and Special claims (p = 0.893) were considered for the hypothesis testing. (d) Label claims of the cinnamon based breakfast cereals available in the main markets. Null hypothesis was rejected (Decision rule p ≤ 0.05); there was a significant association between markets on label claims of cinnamon based breakfast cereals. Country of origin, common name, pure Ceylon cinnamon logo, Ceylon cinnamon, cassia cinnamon, botanical name, and ingredients showed significant relationship. Label attributes; Country of origin (p = 0.046), Common Name (p = 0.046), Pure Ceylon cinnamon logo (p = 0.046), Health claim (p = 0.581), Nutrient profile (p = 0.059), Ceylon cinnamon (p = 0.046), Cassia cinnamon (p = 0.046), Botanical name (p = 0.046), Ingredients (p = 0.046), Standards & Certifications (p = 0.854), Consumer warnings (p = 0.059), and Special claims (p = 0.450) were considered for the hypothesis testing. (e) Label claims of cinnamon based bakery & confectionery products available in the main markets. Null hypothesis was rejected (Decision rule p≤ 0.05); there was a significant association between markets on label claims of cinnamon based bakery and confectionery products. Country of origin, common name, pure Ceylon cinnamon logo, cassia cinnamon, and botanical name showed significant relationship. Label attributes; Country of origin (p = 0.046), Common Name (p = 0.046), Pure Ceylon cinnamon logo (p = 0.046), Health claim (p = 0.276), Nutrient profile (p = 0.465), Ceylon cinnamon (P = 0.059), Cassia cinnamon (p = 0.046), Botanical name (p = 0.046), Ingredients (p = 0.059), Standards & Certifications (p = 0.465), Consumer warnings (p = 0.715), and Special claims (p = 0.465) were considered for the hypothesis testing. (f) Label claims of the nutraceuticals available in the main markets. Null hypothesis was rejected (Decision rule p≤ 0.05); there was a significant association between markets on label claims of cinnamon nutraceutical. Common name, pure Ceylon cinnamon logo, health claims, nutrient profile, cassia cinnamon, ingredients, consumer warnings, and special claims showed significant relationship. Label attributes; Country of origin (p = 0.258), Common Name (p = 0.025), Pure Ceylon cinnamon logo (p = 0.025), Health claim (p = 0.034), Nutrient profile (p = 0.025), Ceylon cinnamon (p = 0.336), Cassia cinnamon (p = 0.039), Botanical name (p = 0.492), Ingredients (p = 0.025), Standards & Certifications (p = 0.500), Consumer warnings (p = 0.025), and Special claims (p = 0.043) were considered for the hypothesis testing.
Fig 6.
Mean difference of the present label attributes with labelling requirements of FAO (Codex Alimentarius).
The no. of observations in each category was cinnamon quills (48), cinnamon powder (46), breakfast cereals (41), Confectionery and bakery (56), Nutraceuticals (31), and cinnamon tea (54). Mean label attribute sizes shown with 95% confidence interval.
Table 3.
Association between present label attributes vs expected label attributes of 6 different cinnamon value-added products.
Fig 7.
Assessment of positioning strategy through label objects.
Assessment of positioning strategy through label objects: an image of cinnamon and word, cinnamon in cinnamon-based breakfast cereals (a); cinnamon tea (b); cinnamon based bakery and confectionery (c); and nutraceuticals (d).
Fig 8.
Clean label status of the cinnamon value-added retail products in the main markets.
Bakery and confectionery of USA market, cinnamon tea of UK/EU market, bakery and confectionery of Mexican market, Nutraceuticals of Japanese and Sri Lankan exporters were recognized as the market with key clean labeled products.