How to come to know the quality of pepper? Follow the batch number, aka 'Lot Number'

07. 03. 2022

As you know, Kampot pepper is considered the best pepper in the world due to its unique taste. However, this does not mean that all pepper purchased from this area will always be of the best quality. In fact, its quality is greatly influenced by its freshness. How can you tell if the pepper you buy is really fresh? This is where the 'batch number' or 'Lot Number' comes into play. This number tells you not only who grew your pepper, but more importantly, when they grew it and therefore whether you are buying a truly fresh and authentic taste of Cambodia. It can often happen that you buy Kampot pepper with a lot number that is 4 years old, which will dramatically affect the quality!

What is the purpose of the Lot Number?

Just as every car has a lot number and a serial number, which together form a vehicle identification number, so too does Kampot pepper. And as with other products that can easily be confused and whose quality needs to be monitored, the journey of Kampot pepper to the final consumer, you, needs to be recorded. 

The batch number of Kampot pepper allows us to easily carry out regular quality checks, calculate expiry dates and track its production. For all our customers, it is an exceptional identifier that they can use when examining the delivered Kampot pepper - to make sure that everything is in order. 

In short - the Lot Number will take you all the way back to the very beginning. Cambodia. Kampot province. To our farming families who are found beneath the Lot Number. ☺

How do you make sense of your Lot Number?

The first part of the Lot Number changes constantly with each harvest. It also serves as an identifier of when the pepper was grown and how fresh it is. Because we import pepper into Europe several times a year, you can be sure that the Lot Number on our pepper always indicates the current year's harvest. So for example - does your bag say B22? Then your Kampot pepper was harvested this year. ☺

The other part of the Lot Number remains the same. This is the key to determining that the Kampot pepper really came from the farms under .pepper..field.  In our case, you can verify that we source our pepper from truly small, local growers whose pepper is of the highest quality - and how many of them there are. Moreover, everything is clearly monitored by the KPPA, the largest organisation under which all the production of Kampot pepper falls. Take a look at our issue C-043.

Unfortunately, not all producers feel the need to offer only the best to their customers, so it can happen that their bags contain pepper harvested up to four years ago. This has a strong impact on the quality of the pepper, which loses its flavour intensity, can become stale and cause other problems that make it inedible.

The Lot Number should always be very visible on the packaging!

In our case, you will find it on the back of the bags by the certifications, which are another sign that the Kampot pepper you find with us is a true original, a champagne among peppers that tastes exceptional and helps where it is needed.