MADE IN NEVADA: Ganesha Enterprises

A Carson City man is flipping the manufacturing model on its head. Instead of producing products for the United States in Asia; he's producing Asian products in the United States and exporting them back to Asia.

President of Ganesha Enterprises Karunesh Gupta says his business in Carson City is the only one of its kind in the United States and Canada.

He specializes in cardamom. It tastes and and smells similar to a mint, but has its own unique flavor. His company produces more than 7,000 tins of the product five days a week. Each tin contains 8 grams of the product.

"We are selling this to India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia. We have a lot of interest from other countries like western Europe." Gupta said.

He says his products are 70 percent less expensive when sold in the United States because he bypasses the shipping costs and taxes his Asian based competitors must pay, but he says he can compete and beat most any competitor inside the Indian marketplace too.

"...Our product just surpasses them by many many folds. There's no match because of the quality...The cardamom seed is top-notch. This is the .01 percent of the 100 percent... most of the traders don't even know this quality exists because it's so rare," said Gupta.

He says he is a self-proclaimed expert on the spice. "It took me years and years just to know and understand cardamom. I've been consuming cardamom since the age of five years old."

He says he searched the world for the best source of cardamom and found it in Central America.

"I went to Guatemala and lived with the tribes. I learned their ways. I had to do a lot of research and development," said Gupta.

He says he cut out extra costs to beat his competition. "I work directly with the farmers... I buy those seeds from Guatemala. We bring them here. We process them here," he said.

The cardamom seeds are turned into Gold Cardamom Seed Clusters, which are made from the pods after the shells are removed.

They're also turned into Cardamom Fruitas, which is the cardamom seed with the shell on. Gupta says it's a replacement for gum because you can chew on it like a gum but it's biodegradable.

Both products are coated in 24-karat gold and then placed in a tin with saffron, which is the most expensive spice in the world.

Some of the saffron is grown in the Carson City manufacturing facility, but it's also imported because the workers can't grow enough to meet the demand.

Gupta claims the three ingredients compliment each other to freshen your breath, detoxify your body and reduce inflammation.

"I thought it was kind of my job to give something healthy to the community, to the people in this day and age here, you have so many ailments like cancer like arthritis... It's an honest effort to give the community a healthy food," he said.

He says one day he will grow his cardamom in his Carson City warehouse and sell it all over the world.

Since shooting this report Ganeshia Enterprises has added machines that will roughly double the number of cardamom products he sells. The tins are $9.99 each.

Ganeshia Enterprises produces a total of 20 products. The Krunchy Cappriccia are dried dates cut into small pieces. An 80-gram bag sells for $1.79. Tuttie Frutti are like gummy bears, but made from papaya. You can buy 100 grams for $2.99.

to buy these products online.