How We Harvested Coarse Salt from Kampot

Kampot salt is the best partner for our Kampot pepper. Last year, it even received the protected geographical indication PGI, which declares it as one of the best in the world. It is precisely the coarse-grained salt that you stormed before Christmas and was immediately sold out. So we set off with the Czech team directly to the plantation to collect it, and it is finally in stock!

Even coarse-grained salt is hand-harvested, not mined

The Kampot brine ponds lie, just like Kampot pepper, in the Kampot region. They are about an hour's drive apart, and we set off together there in the late afternoon when the sun was already setting. We were lucky! Small family farms around the salt pans that we support not only welcomed us with a smile but also didn’t let us wait long.

"Here you have rakes, we are just collecting coarse-grained salt, come on! "

And so we simply collected our coarse-grained salt together with them.

How is such coarse-grained salt collected?

You have to go barefoot into the salt pans with perfectly clean feet, you get a rake, and from the surface of the salt pans, you collect large salt crystals into the shape of a pyramid. You then carry these in a basket to the local storage.

Production only in protective clothing

All the salt is then transported to our processing site, which we also visited. The team could observe the strict hygiene processes subject to the high demands of ISO 9001 and HACCP certification; we also received caps and coats, and gradually went through all the machines needed for salt processing.

First, there is a large dryer, then a sortex machine that sorts only perfect crystals which continue on for manual processing. In another room, Cambodian women receive the roughly sorted salt, which they then handpick and check crystal by crystal to ensure only 100% quality and purity reach you.

In the packing room, we see all the types of salt we import for you – besides the coarse-grained Kampot salt for grinders, the finest and most delicate sea salt flower for final seasoning is also packed here, which was recently gently harvested from the salt pans because the sun was shining and there was no wind. This salt can only be collected under perfect conditions as it is very sensitive. Salt pyramids, which are formed by subsequent reboiling and are a true gem, are already all in the Czech Republic – there are very few of them every year, so we buy them all immediately upon harvest.

For honest work, an honest reward - dinner with the farmers

And since we were clever, for the well-done work the farmers' family invited us to their place for dinner with Cambodian soup and fruit from the farm. With a feeling of a job well done, we return to the accommodation and can now reveal to you that we brought back a nice couple of tons of coarse salt from Kampot, so hopefully it will satisfy all your demands!

Enjoy your meal! :-)