The Kratom Industry

Many people have a wrong idea about how the Kratom industry in Indonesia works. Therefore they make major mistakes when dealing with their supplier and have a high potential to face serious problems within their purchasing process.

In the following we want to present you how the industry works and introduce the most common business models. We have investigated the industry in depth and are one of the most experienced companies in the field to guarantee a good understanding for what companies operating in the Kratom industry need.

Many of them have only a vague idea about what Kratom is used for, and simply view it as another way to provide for their family.

First of all, it is necessary to understand how the Kratom industry in Borneo (Indonesia) operates. There are many different systems and parties involved in the process.

At the bottom of the pyramid are the farm workers who plant the trees and harvest the leaves. Sometimes the workers own the land and are involved in every step of the process including shipping to international buyers, but much more often than not, harvesting Kratom is just another agricultural job.

Farm workers are paid by the kilo to pick Kratom leaves and at the end of the day their leaves are weighed, and they receive their pay. Many of them have only a vague idea about what Kratom is used for, and simply view it as another way to provide for their family.

Usually, it is the landowners who buy the fresh leaves at the end of the day. From here they begin the drying process. There are several ways in which leaves are dried. Once the leaves are dried, they must be turned into crushed leaf also called ‘crumbs’. Some people use specially built machines to turn their leaves into crumbs, but most people do it by hand. The crumbing process involves breaking the dried leaves into small pieces and then removing the pieces of stem. The crumbs are then stored in large bags of 30-50 kilograms.

From here the workers either mill their crumbs into powder or sell their crumbs to be processed by someone else. Once the crumbs have been milled into a fine powder it is again, collected into large plastic bags of 30-50 kilograms.

The powder is then packaged into 1-25 kg bricks and sold to the international buyer. This step can be fulfilled by the farmer, or by a third party who buys and resells the powder.

common Business Models

Below we have illustrated a few of the common business models in the Kratom Industry. All models are shown exemplary on the Indonesian Island of Borneo.

Click on the markers to find out more about how Kratom makes its way from leaf to product.

The Kratom Industry

common Business Models

From leaf to product

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