Indonesia ships 8.2 tons of Muntok white pepper to the Netherlands
Photo caption: Deputy for Medium Enterprises at the Ministry of MSMEs, Bagus Rachman, during a white pepper export send-off event in Namang Village, Central Bangka District, Bangka Belitung Islands, on Saturday (August 15, 2026). (ANTARA/Aprionis)
Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) launched the export of 8.2 metric tons of Muntok White Pepper from the Bangka Belitung Islands Province to the Netherlands on Saturday.
"White pepper holds immense potential and offers great opportunities to be further developed as a flagship export-oriented commodity," Deputy for Medium Enterprises at the Ministry of MSMEs Bagus Rachman said during the export send-off event in Central Bangka District, Bangka Belitung Islands, on Saturday.
He noted that the white pepper shipment, valued at Rp1.21 billion (US$67,870), would be shipped via Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta.
"Even though the shipment is handled through Tanjung Priok Port, the raw white pepper originates directly from Bangka Belitung," he said.
According to Bagus, the export demonstrates the significant potential of the region's agricultural and plantation sectors to integrate into national and international export supply chains.
He explained that the white pepper export was carried out by PT Cinquer Agro Nusantara (CAN), which serves as the holding operator for the pepper-farming MSME cluster in the Bangka Belitung Islands.
"PT CAN partners with 1,300 local white pepper farmers managing 1,000 hectares of land, with an annual production capacity of 500 metric tons," he said.
He added that the export of the agricultural commodity represents a collaboration between the Ministry of MSMEs and the Indonesian Quarantine Agency (Barantin) to promote the region's leading commodities.
Barantin Acting Deputy for Plant Quarantine Dian S.R. Kusumastuti stated that her agency is working to further expand export markets for Bangka Belitung's white pepper while increasing added value for local farmers and MSMEs.
"This white pepper export demonstrates that Bangka pepper has great potential to continue expanding into international markets. Our shared task is to ensure that its quality, standards, and traceability are maintained so that market confidence in Bangka pepper grows stronger," she said.
