Narrator: This is Kampot pepper, the Champagne of pepper.
From one tree,
farmers produce four different colors.
Compared to common black pepper,
Kampot pepper offers a stronger flavor and aroma.
Chefs and locals describe it as pungent, fruity,
and citrusy.
Online,
a kilo of black Kampot peppercorns can cost over $70.
The rarest, white peppercorns,
can cost over $100 per kilogram.
The wholesale price of regular black pepper from Cambodia
is less than $4 per kilogram.
Narrator: Voun, like his father before him,
is a pepper farmer.
He follows strict requirements
so that he can sell his pepper as Kampot.
If everything goes well, there could be big profits.
But this year won't be easy.
Voun could lose half of his harvest
and the profits that come with it.
So what does the future have in store for this rare pepper?
And why is it so expensive?
Only pepper grown in these specific areas
of southern Cambodia can be sold as Kampot.
In 2016,
the European Union awarded pepper grown here
and in neighboring Kep province
a protected geographical indication.
A PGI states that the environmental factors
of this region make the pepper unique,
like real Champagne or Darjeeling tea.
For farmers like Voun,
the price premium from the PGI is essential.
Narrator: Growing pepper is hard work.
Even on large farms, workers pick each cluster by hand.
The berries are small,
and vines can grow over 5 meters tall.
Narrator: Green peppercorns have a fresh, citrusy flavor,
but they're not as spicy as the other colors.
Depending on how long berries stay on the vine
and how they're processed,
farmers produce either black, red, or white pepper.
And while there is demand for green peppercorns,
workers can't just pick everything all at once.
Picking too early means pepper can't be used
for the more valuable red and white peppercorns.
The longer a pepper stays on the vine, the more it ripens,
developing the flavor.
Narrator: The demand for Kampot pepper outside
of Cambodia grew in the late 19th century,
when French colonists started exporting it to Europe.
Ros: Kampot pepper is so special
that nobody can really just use a word
to describe the whole thing.
But to me, Kampot pepper is,
it's intense, it's spicy, it's pungent,
it has a very, very beautiful fragrance.
That's very important.
But another thing that is special about it also
is about the coloring,
that it stays beautiful and fresh so long, long time.
For me, you know, growing up in Cambodia
and use Kampot pepper all my life,
and then use other pepper,
it's almost like I am using the pepper that is not peppery.
But it's also a bit earthy
and not as pungent and also not fragrant.
It's very, very hard to compare.
So the process of roasting it
helps the peppers to spread out the aroma.
And that also makes our dish very fragrant and beautiful.
We're going to be adding a few rows of this,
fresh and green peppercorn.
Looks beautiful. Really beautiful. OK.
For me, cooking amazing Cambodian cuisine,
it starts from each individual ingredient.
So, peppercorn is one of them.
But Cambodia has a lot more to tell through food.
Narrator: Last year, Voun harvested around 500 kilos.
But this year, he might not even get half of that.
Narrator: Using natural fertilizer
and no harmful pesticides
are two of several certification requirements
Voun must follow.
Narrator: And Voun says
if farmers don't follow these rules,
they could be kicked out of the association.
Narrator: Back at Voun's house,
he sorts the pepper by ripeness and removes any defects.
Careful, clean sorting
is also part of maintaining certification.
After sorting, Voun and his family wash the peppercorns.
Then they lay them out on raised beds to dry.
As the pepper ripens, it turns from green to yellow to red.
Each color peppercorn undergoes a different process,
and each has its own culinary use.
Farmers dry yellow-green pepper into black peppercorns,
which have a strong spiciness and aroma.
Their taste is more floral compared to unripe green pepper.
Red peppercorns are sweeter and have a fruitier aroma.
Chefs also use them in some desserts.
To get white peppercorns,
Voun boils the ripe berries and removes the skin by hand.
Locals describe the taste as pungent,
with notes of fresh grass, lime, and even anise.
Chefs also use white peppercorns
to avoid black speckles in sauces.
To remove the skin,
Voun presses the peppercorns against the side
of this basket.
Finally, Voun is ready to sell his pepper.
Narrator: One of the largest farms
in the region is La Plantation.
Depending on the year,
it grows around 8% to 12% of Cambodia's Kampot pepper.
One of the owners, Nathalie,
doesn't find demand to be an issue.
She's optimistic about Kampot's future.
Nathalie: I think every year,
we sell our whole production.
And we buy a lot from small farmers.
I think Kampot pepper will grow,
because tourism also is back.
So more and more people are coming back to Cambodia.
All the people, when they try Kampot pepper,
they fell in love with Kampot pepper.
So no risk that the demand will decrease.
Narrator: La Plantation has access to overseas markets
that smaller producers don't.
To meet international demand,
the company buys and processes pepper
from other farmers in the region.
Nathalie: What is important for us also
is to help the small farmers
who cannot access to international market.
So we as a farmer, producer, and exporter,
we buy a lot every year of Kampot pepper
from small family farms.
And they're doing a fantastic pepper.
So we are very proud of their pepper
and the quality of the pepper produced.
Narrator: Large farms have the resources
to navigate the fluctuating market
and to cash in on the tourist potential
of the protected geographical indication.
Much like a vineyard,
La Plantation has opened its fields
to visitors for tours and tastings.
But if demand doesn't increase,
large farms could make it difficult
for smaller farmers to compete.
Even in the face of these challenges,
Voun says he can weather the competition.
Narrator: Wholesale prices for Kampot peppercorns
range from $15 to $28 per kilo, depending on the color.
But prices can reach even higher.
La Plantation sells black peppercorns for $50 per kilogram
and white and red for $60 per kilogram.
Online, it charges almost double that.
For comparison,
other peppercorns produced in Cambodia sold
for around $3.45 per kilogram in 2022.
Since earning the geographical indication,
Kampot pepper's production has increased dramatically,
from around 16 metric tons in 2010 to over 100 in 2021,
although it's still less than 1%
of Cambodia's pepper harvest each year.
And the wholesale prices of Kampot pepper
have tripled since 2009,
which means more profits for farmers like Voun.
The problem is demand.
The annual production aims to satisfy tourists
and export markets.
But recently, there's been oversupply.
In 2022, Cambodia exported around 79 metric tons,
a 31% drop from the year before.
The Kampot Pepper Promotion Association attributes
this slump to a reduction in international spending.
This can be a challenge for small farmers.
If there isn't enough demand,
they might have to sell their pepper below the market price.
Some farmers have moved on
from pepper production altogether.
There's been about a 7% decrease
in the number of Kampot producers since 2019.
Even so,
the total number of producers is still 70% higher
than it was in 2015.
Voun's family has been farming pepper for decades.
But like many in Cambodia, they had to stop in the '70s
during the deadly Khmer Rouge regime.
After some time, they were able to start again.
Voun's farm now has around 600 vines.