The famous Kampot pepper from Cambodia is facing export difficulties because of COVID-19 restrictions since receiving its geographic indicator (GI) certification from the European Union.
Nguon Lay, the president of the KPPA, said that – since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus – harvested pepper been kept in storage as exports to the EU market have all but dried up.
“I hope that after recovery from COVID-19, the demand for the pepper will resume as usual. For now, the association just collects pepper from farmers who are the association’s members and keeps the commodity in storage,” he said.
Previously, the main export markets for Kampot pepper were the EU, the US, Japan, China and South Korea.