Lampung, Indonesia

Lampong Pepper

55k t

Indonesian black pepper / year

Lampung ~70% of the volume

6–8%

piperine

highest bite of the major origins

2–3%

essential oil

GC-MS, dry weight

Jul–Sep

main harvest window

dry season, southern Sumatra

Profile

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about 5 mm in diameter, dark red, and contains a stone which encloses a single pepper seed. Peppercorns and the ground pepper derived from them may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper, green pepper, or white pepper.

Lampong pepper comes from the volcanic southern tip of Sumatra, where the province of Lampung has grown Piper nigrum since Dutch colonial times. The berries are small, dark and dense, with one of the highest piperine contents of any black pepper (6 to 8 percent), which gives them their signature forward bite. Unlike the floral Malabar or the aromatic Kampot, Lampong leans smoky and citric, a profile shaped by sun-drying directly on tarps beside the smallholder plots of Tanggamus and Lampung Barat. It is the dominant Indonesian export, the backbone of the European charcuterie trade, and the reference pepper for salami, saucisson and pâté production. Roughly 1.4 million 60-kilo sacks leave the port of Panjang each year — a volume that makes Lampong the single most-traded black pepper on the planet.

Origin

Lampung, Indonesia.

Indonesia

Lampung · Lampung, Sumatra

Process

01Year 1–3

Vine training

Cuttings climb live tutors (gliricidia) on 2.5m hedgerows across Lampung's volcanic foothills.

02Jul–Sep

Main harvest

Clusters are cut whole, threshed in the field onto tarps. Smallholders average 1–2 ha plots.

033–5 days

Sun-drying on concrete

Berries blacken on courtyard slabs; turned by rake under equatorial sun. No blanching.

04Cleaning

Winnow + screen

Machine-cleaned to ASTA or FAQ grade. Debris, light berries and pinheads separated out.

05Panjang

Port of Panjang

Aggregators consolidate at Bandar Lampung for export — bulk bags to Hamburg, Rotterdam, Tuticorin.

Inside the berry

The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.

Lampong leads on bite — a high piperine-to-oil ratio that makes it the backbone of industrial seasoning and traditional Indonesian heat.

6–8%

Piperine

top of the Piper nigrum range

2–3%

Essential oil

GC-MS, dry weight

~4mm

Mean diameter

smaller than Malabar

55k t

Annual volume

dominant SE Asia supplier

Volatile compound profile

  • β-caryophyllene32.5%

    Woody, clove-spine, smoky depth.

  • Limonene14.0%

    Citrus top, tangerine peel lift.

  • Sabinene12.4%

    Cracked-pepper sharpness, terpenic.

  • α-pinene8.2%

    Pine resin, cool opening.

  • δ-3-carene6.5%

    Dry cypress, resinous tail.

  • β-pinene4.8%

    Herbal pine, slightly minty.

Versus other peppers

PepperPiperineOil
Lampong ASTA
Indonesia · sun-dried, Panjang port
7.0%2.5%
Malabar MG-1
India · baseline reference
5.0%3.0%
Tellicherry TGSEB
India · late-harvest
6.4%2.4%
Sarawak Black
Malaysia · stream-washed
4.0%2.0%
Kampot (PGI)
Cambodia · PGI
5.8%3.1%

Cuisines

How the world cooks with it.

3 signature dishes

Lampong is the pepper of the home kitchen from Sumatra to Java — ground into the bumbu or cracked over nasi goreng.

  • Rendanggrade: black

    Slow-simmered beef in coconut and bumbu; Lampong delivers the pepper-bite through hours of reduction.

  • Sambal lada hitamgrade: black

    Black-pepper sambal with garlic, shallot and kecap manis — chili optional, pepper compulsory.

  • Nasi gorenggrade: black

    A final twist of the mill on the fried-rice plate — the classic street-stall finish.

Around the world

What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.

22 languages
🇸🇦 Arabicar

فلفل لامبونغ

filfil lambung

🇧🇩 Bengalibn

ল্যাম্পং গোলমরিচ

lampong golmorich

🇨🇳 Chinesezh

楠榜胡椒

nánbǎng hújiāo

🇳🇱 Dutchnl

Lampong peper

🇬🇧 Englishen

Lampong Pepper

🇫🇷 Frenchfr

Poivre de Lampong

🇩🇪 Germande

Lampong-Pfeffer

🇮🇳 Hindihi

लंपोंग काली मिर्च

lampong kali mirch

🇮🇩 Indonesianid

Lada Lampung

🇮🇹 Italianit

Pepe di Lampong

🇯🇵 Japaneseja

ランポンペッパー

ranpon peppā

JVjv

Mrica Lampung

🇰🇷 Koreanko

람풍 후추

rampung huchu

🇲🇾 Malayms

Lada Lampung

🇵🇹 Portuguesept

Pimenta de Lampong

🇷🇺 Russianru

Перец Лампонг

Perets Lampong

🇪🇸 Spanishes

Pimienta de Lampong

🇮🇳 Tamilta

லம்போங் மிளகு

lampong milagu

🇹🇭 Thaith

พริกไทยลัมปุง

phrikthai lampung

🇹🇷 Turkishtr

Lampong Karabiberi

🇵🇰 Urduur

لامپونگ کالی مرچ

lampong kali mirch

🇻🇳 Vietnamesevi

Tiêu Lampung

Seasonality

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Peak harvestShoulder pickingWarehoused, available

Pairings

Protein

  • Dry-aged beef
  • Salami & saucisson

Plant

  • Sambal goreng
  • Roast garlic

Story

Frequent questions

Piperine content sits in the 6–8% range, the top of the Piper nigrum band. Combined with a smaller berry and a higher piperine-to-oil ratio, the bite lands fast and lingers — which is exactly why it dominates cured meat and industrial seasoning formulas.