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If you ever visit Cambodia, definitely do not skip the Kampot province and its eponymous capital during your travels through this amazing country. However, don't be too surprised if it feels like you have traveled back in time and space to 19th century France. That is exactly the impression Kampot can give you. Promenades like on the Champs-Élysées boulevard Champs-Élysées Thanks to its slightly faded but still stunning colonial architecture, complemented by green parks, chaotically run electricity, and its location on the gently rocking waves of the Praek Tuek Chhu river, you will feel like you are walking through the old streets of Paris, where time has stood still. The river is precisely the centerpiece of the town, which is lined on its left bank with beautiful promenades offering views of the nearby Bokor National Park. Before you head into its untamed flora, dive deeper into the town’s streets and explore the town itself. Ideally on foot, or by bike. Gastronomy and art lovers will find their place in Kampot You should definitely visit Old Market Street, which is the main street of the town and where you will find many charming cafes and souvenir shops. The fish market built in 1934, renovated in the Art Deco style, also has its charm. Today it houses a luxury restaurant serving seafood. However, you can also just stop by for an aperitif and admire the beauty of the interiors. The old cinema was given a second chance as well, transformed into the Old Cinema Hotel. It offers the atmosphere of Kampot’s golden era from the last century, as well as a swimming pool where guests can swim and properly relax before their next Cambodian adventure. If you are interested in the history of the place you are traveling through, be sure to visit the local museum, whose exhibitions are dedicated to history. Besides the exhibits, you will also find a renovated museum building that originally served as the residence of the provincial governor. Art lovers will find their place at PiPetPi Gallery, which exhibits works by local artists. On the ground floor, you will find a shop offering various paper products and upcycled jewelry. Many collectible items also await you at a shop called Kampothead, which will transport you through a variety of beautiful items back in time to the first half of the last century, when Kampot was literally a shining river pearl. Part of this charm has been preserved to this day, but it requires some time to see the former splendor with your own eyes. But it is definitely worth it!

It has been three years since we decided to follow the legacy of the old seafarers and start importing the best spices in the world to Europe, pepper from Kampot. During that time, we have established cooperation with hundreds of farmers, dozens of the best chefs from around the world, received several significant awards, and created countless smiles on faces, as evidenced by our 100% satisfaction rating on various platforms. However, now it is time to take our entire project further. The magic of direct trade And literally so! One of the cornerstones of our business was the desire to help farmers in Cambodia through trade here in Europe. Valuable tools served this purpose, such as direct trade, regular visits to the owners of local farms, and financial and material support for those farmers who truly need it. Our goal remains to gradually establish cooperation with as many families as possible who grow pepper in Kampot, Cambodia, and to purchase an increasing volume of their production from partner farms. However, to do this, we ourselves need to expand, specifically by finding new customers for the peppercorns who have not yet discovered the magic of Kampot pepper. Kampot pepper to the whole world We want to find these customers abroad, specifically in countries such as Germany, France, Italy, and also England. Foreign clients already buy pepper from us, but thanks to the innovations we have prepared, we want to meet foreign demand much more. The first to benefit will be customers from Italy and France, countries renowned for their refined cuisine and which will certainly welcome the best pepper in the world with open arms.  And so that local customers best understand that we are not only bringing them quality pepper but a much more sophisticated philosophy of the entire brand, we have prepared a completely new form of communication for them, based on four themes that are most important to us. These themes are taste, authenticity, goodness, and luxury gifts. More about each of them next time.

The moment you buy any food, you are not just buying the product itself, but also the values of those who produced and transported it all the way to your table. Various store certificates can tell you more about these values, revealing under what conditions the given food was produced and how it got to you, but also the transparent communication of the seller, which is often even more important. In this regard, we can talk about so-called direct and fair trade. But what is the difference between them? Translated from English: direct and fair trade  Before a product gets directly into your hands, it usually has to go through a long journey through several traders, which increases its price and lowers its quality. At the same time, the consumer has not the slightest chance to find out where the product comes from, whether human rights were violated during its production, or if environmental devastation occurred. That chain between the farmer and the consumer minimizes direct trade.  It is the path we also take at .pepper..field. Thanks to this, we are able to have a perfect overview of the distribution of our pepper; we know exactly from whom each batch comes, and because of that, you know it too. :-) However, building a direct trade business is not easy because few get direct access to primary world commodities as we did after a long journey through Cambodia. Our direct trade is very transparent, which is proven by the fact that through photos and current videos, we involve you in every pepper purchase, which you can participate in remotely with us! You don’t need a certificate for fair trade  Fair trade is above all a certainty. The certainty that the farmers from whom we buy Kampot pepper receive proper compensation for their work, we know the conditions under which the unique Kampot pepper is grown, and we are able to help them continuously improve these conditions. This is called fair trade. Fair trade can be done even without certificates, precisely thanks to direct trade, because you are a direct seller and thus have direct influence on all processes, including whether farmers are paid 100% fair amounts. It is the most wonderful combination because no unnecessary money gets lost anywhere in the chains. And how do we stand with certifications? All the necessary certifications related to Kampot pepper have, of course, been secured from the beginning and we transparently know from Cambodia that they are in order. Other certifications such as fair trade/bio/organic we now secure for all our farmer families thanks to expansion into foreign markets where they are required. These certifications are understandably extremely expensive, so our farmers could not afford them before, but we try to help them with this and take the financial burden on our shoulders. And that is the beauty of .pepper..field’s help! :-)

The Kampot province, from where we import Kampot pepper for you, is one of the most picturesque regions of Cambodia, which has managed to preserve its authentic character influenced not only by the Cambodians themselves but also by the colonizers who operated here in past centuries. It is a unique place you must visit if you want to experience the real Asia. Although it is a beautiful place, tourism has not yet changed it much, so here you can enjoy a holiday with truly minimal expenses that you will never forget. Why do we like Kampot so much? Besides the fact that we love the ever-present green plantations, we also have many favorite places here that we visit every year and that are directly connected with Kampot pepper. What could such pepper tourism include? The Bokor Mountains You definitely should not miss Bokor National Park, where you will witness the beauty that only the local nature can create. These are mountains that on one side cast a shadow over our plantations and provide them with a cozy refuge reminiscent of a jungle. If you head to these mountains, besides famous historical sites and beautiful old buildings, you will also see the Popokvil waterfall. At this unique place, you will merge not only with nature but also with the locals. It is a popular spot for meditating monks and locals who refresh themselves here during steamy days. Seafood served like nowhere else in the world Would you like to taste Kampot pepper like never before? Then we would recommend the fish markets in nearby Kep, where freshly caught shrimp are served along with fresh green Kampot pepper directly on the stalk and lightly grilled in a pan. A delicacy that we also invite our friends to try. The town itself is full of restaurants specializing in cooking with pepper, offering cooking classes or simply including it in their menus as a matter of course. P.S. Did you know that the unique Kampot climate and soil give a unique quality to several ingredients, not just  Kampot pepper? For example, the local salt is one of the tastiest and healthiest we have ever had on a plate. And you can find it with us too. Also excellent are other local spices and fresh herbs that farmers grow on their lands.

It has been more than a year since the coronavirus pandemic significantly slowed down the pace of humanity and exposed it to completely new situations. Who would have ever thought that children would not be able to go to school, visiting friends and family would be possible only in a very limited manner, and traveling would become a challenge full of complications and paperwork. Many enthusiastic travelers therefore prefer to stay at home, which, however, does not mean that their traveling hearts have stopped beating. Many of them are already dreaming of plans to explore corners of our planet once everything returns to normal. If you are one of them and Cambodia caught your eye, you have surely already read about all the notoriously well-known monuments that can be visited in this country. But we want to offer you a small taste of what you will not find in ordinary guides to Cambodia. Beloved Kampot This area in the southern part of Cambodia offers a unique taste of true Asia, where you can occasionally encounter subtle nuances left behind by the French during the colonial era. If you were to come here, we would gladly arrange a tour of one of our farms for you, led by our Cambodian team. Experience Kampot pepper authentically, as small families and we ourselves live it. Kampot is also full of pink fields and pepper plantations, above which rise the peaks of the beautiful Bokor Mountains full of caves, golden Buddhas, waterfalls, and ancient temples. In the town, you will also find our most popular restaurants using Kampot pepper in ways you have never experienced before. The Cardamom Mountains This unique area full of wild fauna and flora is located on the southwestern border of Cambodia with Thailand. It is a place where you can experience the rainforest in its true beauty. However, it is important to remember that the more beautiful such a place is, the more dangerous it can be. Therefore, venture into the dense jungle only with experienced guides who will take you to the most interesting spots, and if you are lucky, you will have fascinating encounters with the inhabitants of the rainforest. Just like in Kampot, here too we can introduce you to a sustainable community that will host you, accommodate you, and guide you safely through this beautiful nature. Mondulkiri Those of you who watched our online lecture last week for the travel festival Around the World know that Mondulkiri is a beautiful piece of jungle with freely living elephants. They live here to old age in a beautiful project that rescues injured elephants and gives them a chance for a dignified life full of freedom. So if you want to venture into the jungle with a bunch of bananas and crawl through the greenery until you spot huge elephant feet, write to us and we will gladly connect you with the organization Mondulkiri Project.

If you ever travel to the Cambodian region of Kampot, you will definitely come across strange plantations covered with palm leaves, which may resemble domestic hop fields. As you probably suspect, these are plantations of black pepper, which, thanks to favorable climatic conditions and a traditional approach to its cultivation, produce the best peppercorns in the world right here. They are the main livelihood of about a few hundred local farmers, who come to the plantations every day under the sunlight to take care of their black gold, as the locals call their pepper. Farmers have to deal with several natural elements at once It is precisely the sharp sun rays that are the reason why individual pepper vines are covered with palm leaves, which protect them from scorching. This is also taken care of by the shields of the Bokor Mountains, which provide much-needed shade.  However, the reason why farmers have their hands full every day with their plantations is not the sun, but primarily pests. There are several ways to combat them. The less responsible ones use chemical pesticides, but you will not encounter their pepper with us. Our pepper comes only from farms that deal with pests using traditional natural methods. These are also supplemented by manure and guano obtained from caves inhabited by bats, which nourish the plants in the right way. There is not a day when farmers do not check all the grains from the pepper plantations The harvest season comes between February and May. During this time, the hardest work begins, when farmers manually pick individual clusters of Kampot peppercorns, which they then process further. The processing procedure is no less demanding; the grains must be separated from the stem, briefly boiled, and then spread out on mats to dry in the sun, during which they acquire their characteristic coloring. Outside the harvest season, farmers also enjoy a lot of work, mainly planting or daily checking of the grains – for example, red Kampot pepper is picked only from fully ripe berries, so a whole day of hard work might bring you just a small cup of pepper. After harvesting, each grain is carefully sorted with tweezers (due to their size), packed, and shipped. Read about how even the Package itself can be demanding! Therefore, pepper cultivation is very labor-intensive work, leaving the neck sunburned and hands full of calluses. Historically, farmers were not adequately rewarded for their hard work. And this is exactly what we at .pepper..field are trying to change. 

The history of pepper cultivation and trade is rich, full of adventure, voyages to unknown lands, and the construction of magnificent palaces with money earned from trading peppercorns. The history associated with pepper cultivation in the Kampot region is no less significant. The tradition of pepper cultivation in Cambodia dates back to our Middle Ages Pepper has been cultivated in Cambodia since the time of the Khmer Empire, which represents a tradition reaching deep into the era when the Přemyslid dynasty ruled our lands. The very first detailed description of pepper cultivation in the Kampot region however, dates back to the 13th century. During this period, a Chinese envoy named Zhou Daguan arrived in the territory of present-day Kampot, who dedicated part of his writings specifically to the methods of pepper cultivation by the ancient Khmers and their customs. Thanks to this, his work remains one of the main sources of information about the culture of the Khmer Empire.  Although trade between the Old Continent and Far Asia was in full swing already in the 16th century, Europeans discovered the uniqueness of Kampot's black gold much later. This happened in the 19th century when a port was built in Kampot, where trading ships from all over the world arrived. During this era, the production of Kampot pepper intensified, only for the plantations to be soon reduced to ashes. Territorial disputes destroyed the pepper fields This occurred during wars between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Dutch, who originally came to the area solely for trade. However, the Dutch eventually brought destruction and fragmentation to the sultanate. Its leader, as a reward, ordered the plantations to be burned so they would not fall into the hands of Dutch enemies. What is typical for the tradition of pepper cultivation in Kampot, however, is its ability to rise from the ashes. This was achieved even after the Aceh wars, so that by the mid-20th century, pepper from this region became the dominant spice in European markets. In 1928, most of the pepper used in France came precisely from this area, and by the 1960s, production had reached a staggering 8,000 tons per year. The brutal political regime tried to undermine not only the will but also the traditions As is often the case, after rapid growth, a steep decline followed. This time it was brought about by the Khmer Rouge, who decimated the entire country in an unprecedented way. The production of 8,000 tons suddenly shrank to a mere 4 tons annually, and local farmers, in an effort to prevent famine, focused primarily on rice cultivation. Now the tradition of pepper cultivation in this region is once again being revived, and we at .pepper..field are grateful to be part of its rebirth. Since 2018, when we began fair business and cooperation in Cambodia, many things have improved. We are glad to be part of it and to watch how this beautiful country is opening up to the world once again.

If you are our customers, or if you are considering bringing a small piece of Cambodia into your kitchen, rest assured that this purchase will not only make us happy but, above all, support the families of farmers living in the Cambodian Kampot region, where the pepper we offer is grown. Helping is necessary – but effective These people wake up every day to a reality significantly different from what we are used to in our modern European environment. Although many things here do not work as they should, the vast majority of us at least have the security of a social and healthcare safety net that, so to speak, has our backs and can help us when things are at their worst. Unfortunately, nothing like that exists in Cambodia. The entire country is still recovering from a difficult past, and every local family must take care of themselves because no one else will do it for them. Inaccessible medical care, a very limited education system, and a weak labor market are reasons why life here is significantly different from ours. We could learn a lot from the values of Cambodians Nevertheless, life among the jungles and pepper plantations is purer and perhaps even happier. If you wanted to find a person in Cambodia who is not positive and does not constantly smile from ear to ear, you would really search for a long time. These people have learned to make great wealth from their little and to take every little thing as an opportunity for joy. And this is exactly why we want to establish a trade exchange between us Europeans and the positive Cambodians. We Europeans send a piece of our Western wealth to Cambodia, for which local farmers can afford healthcare and send their children to school. In return, they will scent our kitchens with unique Kampot pepper and teach us that the greatest wealth is not hidden in bank accounts but in our hearts and in the way we view the world around us.

Human culture has given rise to a number of incredible products that stand out for their uniqueness and long-standing tradition. To make it easy to distinguish these products from similar but less quality ones, they are awarded a geographical indication trademark. This trademark also protects the uniqueness of the pepper grown in the Kampot region, which is unrivaled in the world. The trademark works the same way as Champagne in France Thanks to the so-called protected geographical indication, buyers are assured that they hold a product in their hands that will surprise them with its exceptional character, which is largely determined by the geographical area where it was produced. To better understand how this method of product protection works, let's use one of the most famous examples that is protected by a geographical indication. It is Champagne wine, a drink that must not be missing at any significant event. You don't have to be a wine expert to know that Champagne comes from the French province of Champagne-Ardenne. The fertile slopes here are ideal for growing delicate sparkling wine with a specific taste. However, sparkling wines are also grown in other parts of France and even in other parts of the world. Therefore, it was necessary to clearly distinguish for consumers which wine should be labeled as the true Champagne and which is just its distant relative. Olomouc curd cheeses, French wine, and Kampot pepper have a lot in common Besides, on our journey to exceptional products from specific locations, we don't have to go far at all. We have 23 of them right here in the Czech Republic. If you have ever tasted the traditional Wallachian frgál, explored what is hidden between the crispy layers of Hořice wafers, or wrinkled your nose at Olomouc curd cheeses, then you have most likely had the honor of encountering a purely Czech product with a protected geographical indication. Just like the sparkling treasure from France or the matured delicacy from Olomouc, peppercorns grown in the Cambodian Kampot region are also uniquely protected by this trademark worldwide. The location in the south of the country offers exceptional conditions for growing pepper in the form of fertile soil combined with the humid climate coming from the sea and the shadows cast by the peaks of the Bokor Mountains. A national treasure needs to be cared for It is precisely this place that influences the specific taste of the local peppercorn fruits. However, this is not the only difference that distinguishes Kampot pepper from others. A big role in the uniqueness of this spice is also played by the way it is grown, which in the families of local farmers has been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. No mechanization, no pesticides, and only natural fertilizers. Everything here is in maximum harmony with nature and the refined taste of this pepper. And that is exactly the reason why this pepper was granted a  geographical trademark. Thanks to it, no other product can claim to be this specific pepper. No counterfeit that does not come from the picturesque Kampot, does not contain residues of chemical fertilizers and sprays, and whose taste is only a bland imitation of the real original, can deprive you of the unique experience of Kampot pepper. However, the trademark of this pepper also protects the farmers who grew it. It is proof of their diligence and daily determination to fulfill their dreams through sweat and calluses on their hands.