The Peppercorns

The Malonan 1, one of peppercorns variant in Borneo, planted alongside the vegetables and fruit trees such as Durian (the fruit king of South Asia), Jackfruit, and Rambutan. The  peppercorns are bright white with a very strong aroma, have a volatile oil level of 3.44%, and pretty spicy! While their black peppercorns have 4.40% volatile oil, not too spicy, but perfect to enhance the flavor of your foods. The farmers of Biatan Ulu village started planting peppers in 2015 over 27 ha of land, and they’ve been successfully produced at least 644 kg/year of white and black pepper since then.

Their peppers are harvested and managed in a traditional way, using machete and sickles to clean the grass no herbicides or fertilizers have ever been used! The secret, they say, is in the feet if farmers visit their peppercorns plant often, they will know when the plants show signs of early diseases  and treated right away.

The Farmers

This white and black pepper were cultivated by the farmers who live in a small kampung (village) of Biatan Ulu, in the island of Borneo, Indonesia. We are proud to say that women and youth are the driving force of the pepper production and marketing.

Biatan Ulu is an old village – the indigenous Dayak Basap Alladan ancestors have been here since 1935. As a traditional hunter and gatherer, healthy forest is vital to their life. Today, Biantan Ulu Village is a more diverse community.  The farmers now consistting of Dayak, Bugis, Timor and Javanese that enrinching the culture of the village.

Together, with the abundant wisdoms, their vision is to become successful farmers of sustainable organic peppercorns, while protecting the 10,033 ha of Village Forest as the source of water and livelihood to the community.