Choose a dehydrated garlic manufacturer in India that peels, dries and mills garlic in its own plant, can trace any lot back to its raw garlic and dryer records, holds a food safety certificate your customers accept, and passes independent laboratory tests on samples you collected yourself. Price matters, but only between plants that clear those four checks.
Many suppliers that appear in an online search sell both onion and garlic, and not all of them make garlic. The steps below help you find out who really does.
Know where Indian garlic comes from
Madhya Pradesh is India's largest garlic-growing state in Ministry of Agriculture horticulture data, followed by Rajasthan, with Gujarat also a significant producer. Large wholesale markets in those states, such as Mandsaur and Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan, and Gondal and Rajkot in Gujarat, move fresh garlic to processors. Much of the export dehydration capacity sits in Gujarat, around Mahuva, where many plants dry both onion and garlic.
This matters because a plant's raw garlic may travel a long way, and its quality depends on how well it is selected and stored before drying. Our guides to garlic from Madhya Pradesh and the Gondal and Rajkot garlic markets explain the supply side.
Step 1: separate makers from traders
Ask for a video walk-through in one continuous shot, from raw garlic intake through peeling, slicing, washing, drying, milling, sieving, metal detection and packing. Then ask which garlic forms are made on site and which are bought in. A trader is not necessarily a bad supplier, but it cannot fix drying or hygiene problems at source. Buying from a trader vs direct from the processing plant sets out when each makes sense.
- Can they name their dryer type and the temperature range they use for garlic?
- Do batch records start at intake, or only at packing?
- Is the address a plant, and will they accept a visit in season?
Step 2: check registrations and certificates
- FSSAI licence and an IEC for the exporting company.
- Spices Board registration (CRES): garlic is on the Spices Board's list, so garlic exporters generally need it. Confirm the current rule with the Spices Board. See CRES registration.
- A GFSI-recognised certificate such as BRCGS or FSSC 22000 if you sell to retail or large manufacturers. Check the scope names dehydrated garlic and the site. Which certifications a dehydration plant should have explains each scheme.
- US FDA facility registration if you ship to the US, and halal or kosher if your customers need them.
Step 3: look at garlic-specific controls
Garlic is harder to process than onion. Indian garlic often has many small cloves, so peeling takes more work, and peel or root residue shows up as dark specks in powder. Ask how the plant peels and how it removes skins before drying. Ask how it controls drying temperature, because too much heat damages the enzyme that gives garlic its pungency.
If the plant also makes onion, ask how it cleans milling lines between products. Garlic carry-over into onion powder can be a problem for buyers who label a product free from garlic.
Step 4: test your own samples
Collect samples yourself or through someone you trust, seal them, and send them to an accredited laboratory. Test moisture, particle size, microbiology including Salmonella, ETO and 2-chloroethanol, and pesticides against your market's limits. Compare at least two or three plants side by side, using the same lab and the same methods. Our garlic powder specification guide lists what to put in the spec first.
Step 5: check capacity and season
Fresh garlic is harvested roughly February to April, and plants dry most heavily after that. Ask how much garlic the plant dried last season, how it stores raw garlic for later months, and whether it can hold finished stock for your call-offs. For large annual volumes, approve two plants so one bad crop or one breakdown does not stop your supply.
Red flags
- A sample that is much better than the first shipment. Insist on a pre-shipment sample from the actual lot.
- Lab reports with no lot number, or from a laboratory you cannot verify.
- A certificate issued to a different company name or address.
- A price far below other plants for the same spec, with no clear reason.
How Creston & Co helps
We work for you, not the factory. We shortlist garlic plants, audit them in season, collect sealed samples for an NABL-accredited lab, check certificates against the scheme databases, and supervise loading, for one written fee agreed in advance. You buy directly from the plant. Read more on our dehydrated garlic page, or book a free sourcing review.