[arethuza]

The UK also did something similar with rubber - originally it was a product closely guarded by Brazil but a "bio-pirate" stole samples and they were then planted widely within the Empire - with Malaya going on to become the top producer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wickham_(explorer)

[toyg]

The history of silk production is similarly full of continuous theft between cities and countries, from China to Turkey to Italy and beyond. Some cities tried harder than others to keep their secrets, but “theft” eventually happened anyway.