Collection: Cambodia (Kampot)

During the Khmer Rouge regime, the emphasis in Cambodia (Kâmpŭchéa) was on the cultivation of strategic agricultural products, mainly rice, but also cassava and sugar cane. Other agricultural products were relegated to second, if not third, place under the regime. This also applies to the cultivation of pepper, although 'steak au poivre' was on the menu of the leaders, and was only grown for them.

Pepper cultivation only picked up again in the 1990s, ten years after the fall of the Pol Phot regime. In 2010, the cultivation of Mrech Kampot, the Cambodian name for the Kampot pepper, received government support in the granting of the first national geographical indication (GI), to protect the name. The pepper was also included in the Ark of Taste under the auspices of the Slowfood foundation.

The fame of the Kampot pepper is partly due to the recent award of the European PGI (protected geographical identification), which has led to a huge increase in sales in the EU. The label has greatly improved the income position of farmers. The Kampot pepper promotion association (KPPA) monitors compliance with the rules associated with the cultivation of a pepper bearing the name Kampot. Of the more than 350 pepper farmers, almost 250 are affiliated with the KPPA, both small farmers and large farmers. Even more than the name, the pepper speaks for itself, undisputedly one of the tastiest peppers in the world!