Are your spices really from Sri Lanka?

Yes. All MrCOLOMBO spices come directly from Sri Lanka - from Jaffna in the north, the central region and the classic Ceylon growing areas. We work with our partner families, organised through local cooperatives, and know the people behind our spices personally. No anonymous middlemen.

Are all products EU organic?

Four products carry the official EU organic seal (DE-ÖKO-005). All other spices come from traditional cultivation in Sri Lanka and are processed without added flavourings and without further additives.

How long do the spices keep?

You will find the best-before date on every pack. We recommend cool, dry storage - our bags are resealable so the aroma is preserved for as long as possible.

How fast do you ship?

Orders ship on business days within 24 h from Darmstadt - by DPD or DHL, depending on capacity. Delivery within Germany usually takes 2-4 business days. Free shipping from 30 EUR.

Do you offer B2B terms for restaurants and caterers?

Yes. For restaurants, hotels and caterers we offer bulk packs and volume discounts. Feel free to enquire via our B2B page or directly by e-mail.

What sets MrCOLOMBO apart from other spice brands?

We buy directly from the smallholder families of Sri Lanka, organised through local partner cooperatives. Packing takes place in the country of origin, Sri Lanka, not in Europe. Packing at origin keeps the value where the spices grow and makes for a shorter, transparent chain. At MrCOLOMBO there is no anonymous supply chain.

The person behind the brand

JR-Janathan
Rajakumar.

Born in Jaffna, came to Germany at the age of seven. Raised in Darmstadt - and never really left Sri Lanka. Who is behind MrCOLOMBO and why real spices from Sri Lanka are not a marketing promise to me, but a memory of the pot at home.

Portrait of JR-Janathan Rajakumar Reading time 10 min.

To the portrait

Some stories begin with a big idea. This one began with a taste. With the curry powder that was made within the family in Sri Lanka - roasted, mixed by hand, following recipes nobody needed to write down. When my grandmother visited us in Darmstadt, she brought it along. No label, no logo - just an aroma no glass jar in the supermarket can capture.

MrCOLOMBO is my attempt to make exactly this quality available in Germany. Without middlemen, without anonymous industrial goods. Direct from smallholders and cooperatives in Sri Lanka. Real spices from my old home - for people who want to know where their food comes from.

Origin

Between Jaffna and Darmstadt.

I was born in Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka. At seven I came to Germany. Together with my mother I started over in Darmstadt. This is where I grew up, where everything happened: school, training, the start of my working life.

But Sri Lanka was never really gone. It came to the table every day - Sri Lankan dishes were nothing special for us, they were our everyday life. My mother cooked; and when my grandmother visited from Sri Lanka, she stood at the stove too. For my mother it was always clear: only what is pure and real goes into the pot.

Anyone who grows up Tamil in Germany learns early: home is not just a place on the map. Home is also what ends up in the pot.

Janathan Rajakumar, founder of MrCOLOMBO, in a partner family's turmeric field in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

JR-Janathan with a partner family · February 2025

The beginning

Real quality instead of mass-produced goods.

The longer I lived in Germany, the more I noticed how much sits on the shelf as «spice» here that has little to do with real quality - industrial goods, anonymous and interchangeable.

Yet the aromas of Sri Lanka exist nowhere else like this. Ceylon cinnamon, turmeric, pepper and our curry powder - anyone who has experienced them in their pure form tastes the difference immediately. Those are exactly what I wanted to bring to Germany: real quality instead of mass-produced goods.

One thing led to another - and a memory became a task. Basically, what I do today is just what my family has always done: bring real spices from Sri Lanka to a table in Germany. Just to many tables.

The principle has stayed the same ever since: fewer middlemen, more direct relationships. The quantities have grown, the standard has not changed.

JR-Janathan Rajakumar together with five members of a partner family in the turmeric field in Jaffna, Sri Lanka - personal direct contact with the growing partners, transparent supply chain without middlemen

Visiting partner families · One of our smallholder families in Jaffna, with whom we have worked for years. When I am there, every visit means a few hours of squatting, eating, talking - not a business appointment.

From the field to the packaging

Everything starts in the field.

In Jaffna, the central region and the classic Ceylon growing areas, our smallholder families harvest the spices by hand - exactly when the aroma is most concentrated. We are on site regularly and know the people behind every harvest. The collaboration is organised through local partner cooperatives - so fair prices reach the families directly, without anonymous middlemen.

Directly after the harvest, the spices are gently dried and taken to our partner processing facility. There they are cleaned, ground and filled into the finished packaging - all still in Sri Lanka. We import only sealed finished products to Darmstadt. Here we store, pick - and ship to you the same day.

Example organic lemongrass · from stalk to bag

Handwork, from stalk to bag.

What sounds like a "small direct-import project" is in reality a network of dozens of work steps - most of them done by hand in Sri Lanka. Here we show you a few of these stations using our organic lemongrass as an example. The same standard applies to every one of our products: as little machinery as possible, as much experience and care as possible.

Women farmers cutting organic lemongrass at ground level at a MrCOLOMBO partner family in Jaffna, Sri Lanka — **1 · Cutting stalks right in the field.** Women farmers harvest lemongrass with scissors - stalk by stalk, close to the ground, by hand.

JR-Janathan Rajakumar with six farmers in the lemongrass field - fresh harvest in yellow and blue plastic baskets, Sri Lanka — **2 · The day's quantity is checked together.** JR-Janathan checks with the partner family's team what may go into the basket. What is collected here goes into processing today.

Three workers carrying out incoming goods inspection in the processing hall - freshly delivered organic lemongrass is sorted again, Sri Lanka — **3 · First inspection of the bundles.** Before transport, the harvest is inspected and bundled by quality. Anything weak stays behind.

Three workers sorting freshly harvested organic lemongrass together in pre-processing in Sri Lanka — **4 · Transport from the field to processing.** The day's quantity is loaded in full crates from the field into the container and taken to the processing hall.

Worker in protective clothing placing organic lemongrass trays into the cabinet on the way to drying in Sri Lanka — **5 · Incoming goods inspection in the hall.** In the processing hall every bundle is checked again. Anything that does not meet the quality is sorted out directly and bad spots are cut away.

Worker in protective clothing cutting bad spots out of washed organic lemongrass in the processing hall, Sri Lanka — **6 · Washing the goods.** Every stalk is washed so that dust and field residues are completely removed before drying.

Worker in protective clothing loading the industrial drying cabinet with organic lemongrass trays in the processing hall, Sri Lanka — **7 · Unloading from the drying cabinet.** After gentle drying, the trays are taken out of the cabinet again - ready for further processing.

Three workers in protective clothing checking finished MrCOLOMBO lemon grass powder bags in the processing hall, Sri Lanka — **8 · Inspecting the powder and preparing for filling.** Three pairs of eyes check colour, consistency and scent of the finished powder - then filling is prepared.

Worker in protective clothing weighing organic lemongrass powder with a spoon into a finished MrCOLOMBO paper bag on stainless steel scales in Sri Lanka — **9 · Weighing, spoon by spoon.** Every bag is weighed individually. No machine - but hand, eye and spoon. That keeps the fill quantity constant.

Three workers in protective clothing at the filling station with MrCOLOMBO lemon grass powder bags in a yellow basket in the processing hall, Sri Lanka — **10 · Filled, final visual check.** Three people at the filling station: weighed, filled, sealed. Every lemon grass bag leaves the facility only once the team has approved it.

Worker in protective clothing showing a finished labelled MrCOLOMBO lemon grass bag at the final packing station in Sri Lanka — **11 · Label check before packing.** Last check at the final station: label applied correctly, batch entered, date correct. Only then does the bag go into the shipping basket.

MrCOLOMBO organic lemongrass from Sri Lanka as finished product - powder 50 g and cut 80 g with both spices in small ceramic bowls — **12 · Finished product.** Depending on processing: cut or powder. Both from the same stalk from the same field, both with the same standard. That is MrCOLOMBO organic lemongrass.

Anyone who grows up Tamil in Germany learns early: home is not just a place on the map. Home is also what ends up in the pot.

- JR-Janathan Rajakumar

Janathan Rajakumar together with a partner farmer in the turmeric field in Jaffna, Sri Lanka - with a harvest crate full of fresh turmeric roots

With a partner farmer in the turmeric field · February 2025

Direct sourcing

Why we don't buy containers.

It would be easier to order from the wholesaler in Hamburg. Fill containers, collect at the port, pack in Darmstadt. That is how the industry does it. That is also how much of what is sold as «organic from Sri Lanka» is done.

We decided against it. If I go back to the country I was born in, that journey should also bring something to the people there. Not charity, but help for self-help: fair prices, reliable purchase and a real partnership with the smallholders and their cooperatives. That only works directly - not via a container in the port of Hamburg.

Today we work with our smallholder families in several growing regions: Jaffna in the north for organic turmeric, moringa and lemongrass. Badulla and Kandy for black pepper. Ratnapura and Gampaha for true Ceylon cinnamon. Matale for cardamom, Kegalle for vanilla. Every partner cooperative is visited personally. Every delivery is traceable down to the plant.

100+smallholder families
3growing regions
0middlemen

What matters to us

Three things - nothing more.

Quality. Packing at origin takes place at an FSSC 22000-certified packing partner facility in Sri Lanka - an internationally recognised standard for food safety across the entire processing. Without additives. If a batch does not meet the values, it is not sold - as simple as that. That has cost us money. It has also brought us the repeat customers we want.

Relationship. We don't purchase - we work together. With our smallholder families in Jaffna and central Sri Lanka, via local partner cooperatives on site. With our warehouse staff in Darmstadt. With our customers. The bag you hold in your hand is the result of many hands that know each other.

Fairness. We pay more than the world market price. Not as a marketing promise, but because otherwise our smallholder families would not deliver to us - but to the industry. Direct import is not cheap. But it gives something back to those who actually make the product.

Three workers in protective clothing at the filling station with MrCOLOMBO lemon grass powder bags - final visual check before shipping in Sri Lanka

Last mile before shipping · Packing is done directly on site, with our labels, in paper bags with an aroma-protecting inner film. What is sealed here then arrives with us in Darmstadt.

My promise

More than an online shop.

MrCOLOMBO is not a life goal. It is an attempt to build a bridge. Between a food culture that has lived in Sri Lanka for centuries and people in Germany who want to know what they are cooking.

Every bag we open here comes from a country where tradition counts more than innovation. Where a wedding celebration is unthinkable without sambol. Where curry is not a dish but a way of life.

We want some of that to arrive in your kitchen. Not as exotica, but as understood tradition. With stories you can pass on. With flavour that reminds you of journeys you may never take.

That is my promise. As long as MrCOLOMBO exists.

In the range

What is on our table.

Our complete range direct from Sri Lanka - every spice from our smallholder families in Jaffna and the central region. Including organic lemongrass, which the feature above follows step by step.

Organic turmeric powder

Sunny yellow from Jaffna - EU organic certified.

JR-JanathanRajakumar.

Between Jaffna and Darmstadt.

Real quality instead of mass-produced goods.

Everything starts in the field.

Handwork, from stalk to bag.

Save 10% on your first order

Why we don't buy containers.

Three things - nothing more.

More than an online shop.

What is on our table.

Organic turmeric powder

Organic moringa powder

Organic lemongrass, cut

Organic lemongrass powder

Ceylon cinnamon powder

Ceylon cinnamon sticks

Chili flakes

Chili powder, roasted

Chili powder, unroasted

Jackfruit powder

Turmeric powder

Beetroot powder

Black pepper, whole

Black pepper, cracked

Black pepper powder

Sri Lanka curry powder

Take the journey with us.

JR-Janathan
Rajakumar.