Saurashtra, the peninsula of western Gujarat, is India's best-known groundnut region, and Rajkot, Junagadh and Amreli are its main trading and processing districts. Saurashtra groundnut exporters and the Rajkot sesame seeds exporters among them buy from local yards and sell shelled, graded and cleaned product abroad.
The districts overlap, but each has its own character. Knowing which district a supplier works in helps you judge what it can offer.
Rajkot: the trading hub
Rajkot is a commercial centre, and many oilseed traders, shellers and exporters have offices here. Rajkot groundnut exporters and Rajkot sesame seeds exporters often source from several districts, so ask where the goods were grown and where they were cleaned and graded.
Traders here often sell for plants in other districts, so ask who owns the lot at each stage. A clear answer, with names and addresses, is a sign of a transparent supplier. A vague one is a reason to ask for the shelling plant directly.
Rajkot is a good place to meet several suppliers on one visit, but a Rajkot address does not prove a plant. Ask for the plant address and check it.
Junagadh and Amreli: closer to the crop
Junagadh is a major groundnut area, and Junagadh groundnut suppliers include shellers, graders and traders working close to the farms and yards. The district's stock moves through the local market yard after harvest.
Amreli grows groundnut and sesame, and Amreli sesame seeds exporters tend to be smaller operations that clean and pack local seed. Supply tracks the local crop, so the harvest timing in the groundnut harvest season in Saurashtra and the sesame harvest season in Gujarat tells you when fresh seed is available.
What each type of supplier does
Three roles make up the trade. Many Saurashtra companies combine two or three of them, so ask which they do themselves and which they buy in, because only the first group controls the quality of the product.
- Shellers remove the shell, grade by kernel size and sort by machine, and often by hand for HPS grade.
- Sesame processors clean the seed, and some hull it for white hulled grades.
- Exporters buy from shellers and processors, pack to order and arrange documents and shipping.
How to approach them
Send each supplier the same specification: variety, count, grade, moisture, aflatoxin limit and packing for groundnuts; purity, hulled or natural, and salmonella limit for sesame. Ask for a lot sample and have it tested by an independent laboratory.
Peanuts and sesame are food ingredients with strict import controls in some markets, so confirm the current limits for aflatoxin, pesticide residues and microbiology with your customs broker before you buy.
Visit in the right season. Shelling plants run hardest after the harvest, and a plant seen in the quiet months may look very different when it is under load. Ask when the heaviest production is and plan the visit around it, or ask for recent video of the line running.
A district is not a guarantee. Two plants in the same town can differ widely in hygiene and sorting, so the audit matters more than the address. We do not publish names or prices.
Next step
We find and audit groundnut and sesame suppliers across Saurashtra, test lots and supervise loading. To start with your specification, book a free sourcing review.