As Champagne is to France, Kampot pepper is to Cambodia

Ngnoun Lay holds pepper from a Kampot plantation. “When I stopped being a soldier I went to grow pepper like my ancestors,” says the president of the Kampot Pepper Farmers’ Association, standing among ripening plants that tower over him on wooden poles. (Photo: Jared Ferrie)

The Cambodian government recently approved 'geographical indication' status for Kampot ground pepper, which Parisian chefs have called the best in the world.

June 23, 2010
By Jared Ferrie, Contributor
The Christian Science Monitor
Kampot, Cambodia

After he grew tired of fighting on the government side of Cambodia’s civil war and left the Army in 1993, Ngnoun Lay knew exactly what he wanted to do.

“When I stopped being a soldier I went to grow pepper like my ancestors,” says the president of the Kampot Pepper Farmers’ Association, standing among ripening plants that tower over him on wooden poles.

Pepper has been cultivated in this region since at least the 13th century. But the spice’s heyday came much later, under French rule. Parisian chefs considered it the best in the world for its uniquely strong yet delicate aroma and its slightly sweet, eucalyptus taste. At the turn of the 20th century, Cambodia was exporting around 17.6 million lbs. a year, according to FarmLink, a company working with farmers to create a niche gourmet market in Europe.

Under the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79), the industry was completely destroyed and has yet to regain anything close to its former glory.

But farmers in Kampot recently got a boost when the Cambodian government approved geographical indication status for their product. (GI provides a guarantee of quality standards and assurance that a product comes from a particular region.)

Kampot has a microclimate ideal for growing pepper, as well as specialized cultivation techniques that have been passed down for generations, says Jerome Benezech, director of FarmLink. He says GI status will help to stop traders selling pepper from other regions under the Kampot brand. And it will mean higher profits for Kampot farmers, because GI appeals to consumers willing to pay a premium.

Mr. Benezech says Kampot may never produce the volume of pepper it did a century ago – the province exported only 6,600 lbs. last year – but he and the farmers hope for a steady rise “To increase the volume exported today to a couple of hundred tons would be very profitable for everybody, for the province and the farmers,” he says.

Cambodia pepper, palm sugar get GI status

Kampot pepper

April 05, 2010

PHNOM PENH (Commodity Online) : Cambodia has geographically registered Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar as an attempt to protect cultural traditions in certain areas and guard against fraudulent labelling of items intended for export.

According to Cambodia’s Commerce ministry, the products were given geographical indication (GI) status, which brands products based on the areas for which they are famous, as in the case of Champagne.

The registrations of Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar were a first step in preventing the fraudulent production of imitations, it said.

The pepper and sugar are the first of six products developed with support from France’s Gret, a professional solidarity and international cooperation association, and others since 2004.

Cambodia also palns to register four more commodities such as Siem Reap prahok, or fish paste, Battambang rice, Phnom Srok silk, from a region of Banteay Meanchey province, and Pursat cardamom.

Cambodia's Kampot Pepper Makes a Comeback

Bags of Kampot Pepper for sale by Farmlink-Cambodia

By Rory Byrne
Voice of America
Kampot, Cambodia
16 April 2009

Kampot province in southern Cambodia was long famous for the quality of its pepper. But under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s, almost all of the province's pepper plantations were uprooted to make way for rice. Now a local company is leading an effort to revive Kampot pepper by earning it Geographical Indication protection, similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese.

Many French chefs consider Kampot pepper the best in the world.

During the French colonial era, about one million pepper plants were grown in the province, mainly to produce pepper for export to France.

Famed for its strong, yet delicate, aroma, Kampot pepper can range from intensely spicy to mildly sweet.

Jerome Benezech, the director of Farmlink, which is working with local farmers to increase pepper production, says the pepper's unique flavor is thanks to a combination of factors found only in Kampot.

He says Kampot pepper has a distinct flavor. It has a very fresh aroma with hints of eucalyptus and it lingers in the palate. He says its unique flavor is due to the combination of Kampot's rich soil, the climate in this area which is between the mountains and the sea, as well as the experience of several generations of pepper farmers.

Under the Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s, Kampot's famous pepper plantations were uprooted and replaced with rice fields.

But in recent years the spice has been making a comeback and production is once again on the rise.

Farmlink works with 125 local farmers with the aim of doubling pepper production over the next five years.

More than 20,000 pepper vines have been planted since 2003 - still a fraction of the amount produced under the French.

Many pepper farmers like Ngnoun Lay come from generations of pepper growers:

He says since he was born his mother and father grew pepper and now he does the same thing. In fact, he says, they have grown pepper in his family for the last four generations. Whether the price is high or low he stills plant pepper because, apart from growing rice, it is all he has ever known.

Farmlink staff members say that while pepper requires more labor than growing rice, it is more profitable for farmers.

Kampot pepper is the first Cambodian product to apply for Geographical Indication protection similar to Champagne or Parmesan cheese. GI status means that only pepper actually grown in Kampot can use that name.

Angela Vestergaard, Farmlink's marketing director, leads the effort to secure GI status. The aim is to help promote Kampot pepper around the world, and to protect its quality.

She says the GI project will protect the environment in this region and make sure that Kampot pepper keeps its high quality and is not mixed with lesser quality peppers. She says Farmlink wants the consumer to be guaranteed the highest quality and to be sure that what they are getting is authentic Kampot pepper.

Despite the economic slowdown, demand for Kampot pepper is growing, although more slowly than before.

But growers are hopeful that if Kampot pepper can earn GI protection next year, the province can regain its status as one of the world's premier pepper growing regions.