Czech company emphases fair-trade and technology innovation to boost Kampot pepper sales
30.11.2020 / 08:52 | Aktualizováno: 30.11.2020 / 09:46
Within its efforts to promote Kampot pepper, a Czech “EU Land and Pepper Investment” company has arranged a handover of ten Czech-made vacuum machines during a ceremony held on 27th November in Angkor Chey Village, Kampong Trach, Kampot province. Besides its ongoing plans to buy exclusively from small-scale farmers, the company has introduced additional ways to promote and market Kampot pepper, such as the freeze-drying of the fresh green pepper or set-up of digital communication and marketing channels.
Ten vacuum machines made in the Czech Republic have been handed over as a part of the company’s Pepper Field project during a ceremony witnessed by H.E. Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, H.E. Cheav Tay, Governor of Kampot province and Mr. Štěpán Vojnár, Chargé d´Affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Czech Republic. As in case of previous batch of technologies delivered by the EU Land and Pepper Investment in Kampot last February, the acquisition and delivery of food processing equipment to local small farmers was supported by the Czech Development Agency. In order to achieve the project targets, the Czech company will work closely with the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA).
During the ceremony, the Czech company also informed it had achieved to fundraise 40.000 USD in the Czech Republic for a food bank project designed to assist families of pepper farmers in Kampot affected by social and unemployment impacts of Covid-19.
Despite Pepper Field project was launched in 2018 only, its business has been growing steadily. While in the Czech Republic Pepper Field employs a dozen of people, in Cambodia around 200 families producing pepper are involved. With new technologies, the company hopes small-scale farmers will be able to process around 10 tons of pepper by 2021 to be marketed by the company. "Our goal is to go 100 % fair-trade with better logistics and marketing involved in the local business," says David Pavel, Pepper Field project founder and CEO of the EU Land and Pepper Investment. “We make sure all income stays with each farmer. As far as I am aware, there should be no other company so far buying Kampot pepper exclusively under these strict fair-trade conditions”, adds Klára Dohnalová, the project co-founder. In the Czech Republic, the company is a member of the Association of Social Responsibility that aims to promote and meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In order to boost its business plans in Cambodia, the company has took onboard a number of innovations. Besides promoting online sales, it has also acquired technologies to lyophilize Kampot pepper. This process allows the fresh pepper to preserve its hand-picked aroma until it reaches customers in Europe. Moreover, the company is also discussing a close cooperation with KPPA in marketing and digital areas to set-up digital communication channels and help spreading the awareness about the Kampot pepper geographical indication worldwide.
Galleries
