By Tania Lam & Umie Syazwanie Mohd
KUCHING: The pepper industry must be elevated to become a more productive commodity which will bring more revenue to the country, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin.
“It needs to be elevated to a plantation level. At the moment, it is still at the cottage industry level,” she said at a press conference during her official visit to Malaysia Pepper Board (MPB) Headquarters here on Wednesday (Sept 8).
“In my briefing to MPB, I asked them to think of strategies that are more in the form of the bigger picture, in that we need to shift from a cottage industry to a commodity,” she said.
She said that on the whole, pepper had seen an increase in sales value this year compared to last year. However, she explained that this high value was due to supply shortage.
She noted that currently, most of the pepper related income was from the export of white pepper or black pepper powder and also raw pepper.
As such, she emphasised that downstream development should be looked into as there were a number of products which could be developed.
“In terms of downstream development, we have to look back and review what products can generate high income and which we can bring down to smallholders to bring income to them. We should train them in order for them to become entrepreneurs or manufacturers of these products,” she said.
Zuraida said there was no point in carrying out research and development (R&D) to come up with a product that is appealing in taste but is commercially not viable and lacks market value.
“In this regard, I have also asked Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Datuk Willie Mongin to review what is the best product to be raised as a flagship product for us to do marketing and sales to generate revenue,” she said.
She said she was also briefed on the formation of a marketing arm called Saraspice Sdn Bhd.
“After being approved and receiving allocation from the Finance Ministry, this will also be a marketing arm for goods produced by MPB. It will certainly be a reference for goods produced by Malaysia,” she said.
She said Saraspice was based in Kuching but added that in the long-term strategy this could be duplicated in other locations such as strategic markets overseas and within the country.
Saraspice is expected to be fully operational in October this year.
“Willie and I will work together to guide and ensure that pepper becomes a high-yielding commodity in the country in the near future,” said Zuraida.
In a statement by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, it was said that the pepper subsector is among the most important contributors to rural economic development, involving 36,689 smallholders and 7,718 hectares of crop area throughout the country and especially in Sarawak.
