Theme: Back to the Fundamentals
VIPO 2022 was held from November 9th to 11th, 2022, at the Muong Thanh Hotel in Dak Lak, Vietnam. The event successfully gathered over 230 delegates from domestic and overseas, featuring 15 eminent speakers and 15 exhibitors, offering a deep dive into the fundamental aspects of the pepper and spice industry. The theme of VIPO 2022, Back to the Fundamentals, focused on reassessing and reinforcing the core aspects of the pepper industry. While Vietnam has emerged as the world’s largest producer and processor of black pepper, achieving this status has involved compromises and delays in improvements, leaving some fundamental practices behind. This year, the goal was to return to the basics—examining essential issues in growing, processing, shipping, and consumer behavior to strengthen the foundation of the global pepper trade.
Key Highlights of VIPO 2022:
• Sustainable Farming Techniques: A major focus was on sustainable pepper farming, including: o Natural farming practices for low-carbon pepper cultivation. o MRL (Maximum Residue Levels) systems for ensuring safe farming practices and compliance with international standards. o Agro-ecological practices for sustainable cultivation, with an emphasis on safe pest control for durian trees grown alongside pepper plants.
• Global Market Overview: Experts provided an overview of the global pepper market, discussing key updates on regulations and requirements in major markets such as the US and EU.
• Sustainable Development Strategies: Discussions centered around strategies for sustainable pepper farming, including perspectives from IDH and the Vietnamese government on developing a sustainable pepper industry in alignment with market demands.
• Vietnam's Pepper Industry Outlook: The conference also featured insights into Vietnam’s pepper production and export status in 2022, along with forecasts for 2023, and updates on Cambodia’s pepper production and export forecasts for the same period.
• Farm Visit: Delegates visited a pepper farm in Dak Lak Province, gaining hands-on experience with local farming techniques and learning about the challenges and opportunities in the region's pepper production.
