For most agricultural exports, sea freight is the sensible default. The cost per kilogram at container volumes is not close to anything else, and dried herbs and spices are stable enough that weeks in transit cost them nothing if they are packed properly.
Air earns its price in two situations. The first is a sample or a first order, where the buyer needs to see and test the material before committing to a container. The second is a genuinely short-dated product or an urgent gap in a production line, where the cost of the delay exceeds the cost of the freight.
Land freight is the one people forget, and for regional destinations it is often the best of the three: faster than sea, far cheaper than air, and with fewer handling points than a transhipment route.
Whichever you choose, the documentation has to be ready before the goods move rather than after. A container sitting at a port because a certificate is still being issued costs more than any freight decision you could have made.
