Sabarimala pilgrim season perks up demand for black pepper

The ongoing Sabarimala pilgrim season has boosted the demand for black pepper in Kerala, pushing up prices in the past week.

Traders said pilgrims coming from Cumbum in Tamil Nadu’s Theni area via Idukki in Kerala are buying pepper from Kumily on their way back. The number of pilgrims visiting the hill shrine this year is higher and they are buying pepper in half and one kg packets. Normally, around 3,000 tonnes of pepper are sold during the pilgrim season every year.

Primary dealers in Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Kottayam districts reported good sales as many of them mixed their newly-harvested pepper along with the old crop due to limited availability of fresh farm-grade pepper, traders said.

Prices at the Kochi terminal market were at ₹647 per kg for ungarbled variety and ₹667 for garbled with a traded quantity of 22.5 tonnes.

Climate change impact

Kishore Shamji, a trader in Kochi, said it is expected that more fresh pepper will come to the terminal market with the conclusion of the pilgrim season by the end of this week. Most of the primary market dealers are involved in direct inter-State business with the support of intermediaries from the terminal market.

However, the impact of climate change has delayed pepper harvest in many places, forcing the extraction industry to buy imported stuff from Sri Lanka to cover their requirements. At the same time, harvesting is picking up in southern districts of Kerala, mostly in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Kollam, he said.

The Indian Pepper Community annual session figures pointed out that the domestic consumption was on the rise in 2024, touching 1,31,000 tonnes due to the surging demand from masala makers. However, the prospects in 2025 are not encouraging due to erratic climate and rainfall patterns that could impact production, with a 25-30 per cent drop, facilitating more imports in the domestic market this season as well.