In the context of both increased consumption and production, the Kampot Trade Promotion Association (KPPA) expects to export 80 tonnes of Kampot pepper this year.
Mr Nguon Lay, KPPA Chairman, said Cambodia had exported about 45 tonnes of Kampot pepper in the first eight months of this year, mainly exported to the European Union (EU), the United States and Japan.
Up to now, Cambodia produces about 100 tonnes of Kampot pepper, but only 80 tonnes of pepper are eligible for export.
According to the KPPA, typically 30% of the Kampot pepper output is sold to domestic tourists and 70% is used for export.
The Kampot pepper cultivation area has been on the rise since 2009 when the KPPA was established. In the period 2009 – 2017, the area of Kampot pepper increased from 10 hectares to 210 hectares, with the number of households growing pepper increased from 100 to 387 households.
Mr Lay said Kampot pepper was awarded the EU Geographical Indicator (GI) certificate in 2006 as a key factor in boosting households’ growing acreage over the years.
KPPA is applying a policy of encouraging each member of the association to grow 50-60 hectares of pepper.
According to the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, the country produced about 12,000 tonnes of black pepper last year, and most of it came from the east. However, pepper from this area was sold for low price because of not meet the quality criteria.
At present, black pepper of Cambodia is $ 15,000 per ton, while red pepper and white pepper are $ 25,000 and $ 28,000 per ton, respectively.
In addition, the Kampot pepper market is also facing counterfeit goods. “We have just discovered 8 tonnes of fake pepper with the original KPPA brand in France,” Lay said.
(According to Kinh te & Tieu dung)
