Kampot Pepper Strong, Rivals Struggle

KHMER TIMES
SOK CHAN



Kampot pepper sales both locally and internationally have continued to be strong since gaining coveted geographical indication (GI) status from the European Union in February, while domestic pepper competitors have complained of falling prices, industry figures said yesterday.

Kampot Pepper Promotion Association president, Nguon Lay, told Khmer Times that the market for Kampot pepper was continuing to grow, and the high prices for the various varieties were only increasing. With total demand being about 400 tons last year, Mr. Lay said that his association planned on growing 70 tons this year, on 184 hectares of land. Last year they grew 60 tons, he said, double what was produced in 2014.

Continued demand from European, US and East Asian markets meant that current prices for black pepper was $15 a kilogram, $25 for red pepper and $28 for white pepper.

He explained that as part of the process of gaining GI status, the quality of pepper, its storage and packaging had all been greatly improved, which had also helped boost the status, and the selling price, of Kampot pepper.

However, for other pepper farmers in Cambodia, the current situation appears less positive.

Por Koung, CEO of Orchel Farm, a pepper company in Mondulkiri province, told Khmer Times that prices for their organic pepper had almost halved this year, to $7 a kilogram.

“The market for organic pepper now is getting worse and worse due to supply being greater than demand as a lot of people are growing pepper now,” Mr. Koung said. “I think for the new harvest [in February] we will not know if it will increase from $7 or be below this since there will be even more supply.”

Khan Samban, director of the agro-industry department at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that any falls in pepper pricing were due to poor quality, not supply issues.

“If the quality is better, then it is not falling. If the pepper producers or farmers produce a lower quality, the price is lower too,” Mr. Samban said.

Mr. Samban added that the total pepper plantation area nationwide is about 6,000 hectares, which produces about 12,000 tons of pepper. Cambodian pepper is exported to about 20 countries, including neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, he added, stressing that the ministry was active in improving the technical skills of the farmers and seeking new markets for pepper.