The Jaggery Project

Not all jaggery is organic. Here’s why that matters.

Sugarcane is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world. Pesticides, herbicides, growth regulators — conventional sugarcane farming uses all of them. And since jaggery is made by simply boiling sugarcane juice with nothing removed, whatever’s on that cane ends up in your jaggery.

That’s the thing most people don’t think about. When a product is unrefined, purity cuts both ways. You keep the minerals and the flavor. But you also keep whatever chemicals were sprayed on the field.

What “certified organic” actually means for jaggery

Organic certification for jaggery means the sugarcane was grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. The soil is tested. The farming practices are audited. The entire supply chain — from field to final product — is tracked and verified.

It’s not a marketing label. It’s a chain of custody. Every batch of organic jaggery can be traced back to the specific farm and harvest it came from.

For a product you eat in its most natural form — not cooked into a recipe, not diluted in a drink, but eaten as a small bite — knowing what’s in it matters more than usual.

Why The Jaggery Project chose organic as non-negotiable

When Abhinav Tyagi started The Jaggery Project, organic wasn’t a business decision. It was a personal one.

His family are sugarcane farmers in India. He grew up watching jaggery being made in the village — raw cane juice boiled in open pans, poured into molds, cooled and cut. No factory. No chemicals. Just sugarcane and heat.

The product he wanted to bring to America had to match what he grew up eating. That meant certified organic sugarcane, processed the traditional way, with nothing added.

It’s more expensive. The supply chain is harder. But there was no version of this product that wasn’t organic.

How to tell if your jaggery is organic

Look for a USDA Organic certification on the packaging. If it doesn’t say certified organic, it probably isn’t. Terms like “natural,” “pure,” or “traditional” have no regulated meaning — any jaggery can use those words.

The Jaggery Project’s jaggery bites are USDA certified organic. Each one is individually wrapped, about 40 calories, and under a dollar. If you want to know exactly what you’re eating — and you should — this is a good place to start.