Why is Black Pepper so Expensive?

Black pepper is widely known as the King of Spices. It has a strong and robust aroma, a high spice factor and adds a unique taste to any food. This condiment formed a major part of trade in ancient times. Did you know that thanks to the profitability of the spice trade and the fact that India was one of the major growers of many spices, European countries first explored and then colonized many countries (including India)?

And pepper was the predominant spice that was shipped in the olden days. It was worth its weight in gold and was used to pay taxes, dowries, rent and ransoms in the fifth century. Thankfully, pepper is no longer that expensive in modern days.

Black Pepper is Labor Intensive to Produce:

When you reach for the familiar black peppercorns in your pepper mill, give a thought to the process it has gone through to reach your table. Peppercorns are picked in one of two ways:

The peppers are picked when they are green by women carrying baskets. They are then placed on drying platforms and left to sun-dry for a week to ten days. This turns the pepper dark and wrinkled.

Alternatively, when the growing green peppers are about to turn red, they are picked and then put boiling water till they turn dark in color. They are then dried under the sun or mechanically.

In either case the black peppercorns are then taken to factories where they are cleaned and graded by size and color. They may undergo further processing if they are to be ground finely or coarsely before being packaged. Because of the labor intensive nature of the crop, it is expensive to produce and so is expensive to buy.

Black Pepper does not grow Everywhere:

The piper nigrum plant requires specific soil and weather conditions to grow. It cannot grow in many places because of this. It requires a hot temperature and heavy rainfall for a certain amount of time. The plant takes 3–5 years to come to fruit. All this adds to the cost.

100 pounds of fresh pepper berries yield only around 35 pounds of dry black pepper after processing and drying. Again, this increases the cost of the finished product that reaches your kitchen.

The plant is native to India, especially south India, on the Malabar Coast. It also grows in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil, among other places. In fact, Vietnam now is the largest exporter of this spice.

Why does Black Pepper Command a High Price?

Black pepper has many health benefits and that adds to its popularity. Used whole or cracked or powdered, pepper affords many health benefits. Its taste and the unmistakable flavor it add to foods, particularly meats were among the reasons that it was highly prized in ancient times and even now.

More than that, black pepper has numerous health benefits, apart from tickling your taste buds. Consider some of them:

Digestion

Its volatile oils help in digestion as the stomach releases hydrochloric acid to help digest food better. It also combats flatulence.

Heart disease

Modern life and its stresses combined with environmental pollution result in free radical formation in the body. These can damage cells and cause many health problems including heart disease. Antioxidants in pepper, particularly piperine, help combat this damage, so using pepper in your food can help prevent heart disease.

Cancer

When pepper is added to any food along with turmeric, its antioxidant properties increase. This may help battle cancer or even prevent it.

Weight loss

The many compounds in pepper boost the metabolic rate. Black pepper also has many phytonutrients. As it also reduces appetite, together these qualities help you lose weight in a healthy way.

Mood improvement

Black pepper releases the feel-good chemicals in the brain. These help with mood disorders, including depression and mood swings.

Respiratory problems

Ease the symptoms of cough and cold and reduce chest congestion by drinking hot liquids like tea and soup with black pepper in them.

Diabetes

Piperine in pepper improves insulin sensitivity and also helps prevent blood sugar spikes that can be detrimental to diabetics.

Joint pains

Whether you have arthritis or rheumatism that cause joint pains or have occasional aches and pains, pepper, thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, can help reduce inflammation and the pain associated with it.

Black pepper also has many other health benefits that have not yet been studied. So do include some pepper in your food.

Keep in mind that organic and high-quality black pepper is best for its taste and health benefits. And you can use pepper along with many other foods and condiments such as potatoes and eggs with black pepper, garlic and black pepper, lemon and black pepper. You can even add a sprinkle of pepper to boiled vegetables and very sweet fruits like water melon and strawberries.

Even if black pepper is expensive, a little goes a long way.

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