Martin, together with his colleagues Sebastian Brimmers and Bastian Stollwerk, sells high-quality pepper from Cambodia. Red, white and black pepper, plus two different mills and a mortar - that's it. The minimalist range is part of the concept. It's better to have fewer products, but only top quality.
Sven, 42 : Martin, how did you get into the spice business?
Martin Gompelmann : It happened by chance and wasn't exactly obvious to us as graduates of the sports university. My colleague Sebastian Brimmers spent colombia telegram screening a few months in Cambodia in 2009 as part of his thesis on "Development aid through sport" and that's where he first came into contact with Kampot pepper. When he returned to Germany, he brought some samples with him and we were immediately won over by the taste and the extraordinary aroma. But we had no culinary background whatsoever. So we also got feedback from Michelin-starred restaurants and the chefs there were unanimously enthusiastic. From then on, it was clear to us - we were going into the pepper business.
Lean product portfolio: red, white and black Kampot pepper
Sven, 42: What makes Kampot pepper so special?
Martin Gompelmann: Kampot pepper has been grown in the province of the same name for centuries and is one of the best types of pepper in the world. The conditions in southern Cambodia are practically ideal for pepper. Added to this is a great deal of experience in cultivation and a lot of manual work. The result is immediately recognizable in the taste. However, most of the fields were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge era and it is only since the 1990s that traditional cultivation methods have slowly been rediscovered. The quantities exported, at 3.5 tons per year, are only a tiny fraction of the pepper traded worldwide.