Peppercorn The king of spice has been trading freely for past 100 years. In these past 100 years the world has seen new origins, new varieties, new crop protection chemicals and new applications. As of today Vietnam is the cynosure of world pepper trade owing to its status as the largest grower and processor of black pepper.

In the process of achieving this status several compromises were made, many improvements were delayed and most importantly the fundamentals were left behind. This season we would like to go back to the fundamentals of growing, processing, shipping and consumer behavior in order to reinforce the foundations of the trade.

With several countries aligning their regulations to international standards and by raising the bar on quality key fundamental questions need to be answered-

1. Is the growing of pepper aligned to the requirements?
2. Do we propagate biology instead of chemistry in growing pepper?
3. How can we include farmers as well in our efforts to improve the supply chain?
4. Is there rationalization needed towards setting MRL targets and how can this be done and can regulators work with growers and industry and then set regulation?
5. Can the industry come together to communicate the benefits of spice in an organized manner to boost consumption?
6. What are the steps to make the pepper trade more sustainable, eco-friendly and at the same time economically viable?

Listed above are just a few of the relevant questions and there are many more of such questions to be deliberated at the grass root level. This year we aim to bring forward growers in large numbers in order to engage them in an effort that would bring significant improvements in the industry.