We offer you authentic Tasmanian bush products that can be found nowhere else in the world, so that you might experience something of the Tasmanian wilderness! This great rugged land, known as Palawa to Tasmanian aboriginal peoples, holds one of the largest cool-temperate wilderness areas in the Southern Hemisphere. It is one of the last great wilderness areas of the world. It is a global and national treasure.
Tasmanian pepperberry is a native plant with a pungent berry that is the central focus of our little business and the bushfood products that we make. We hand-forage pepperberry from carefully selected and managed locations around Tasmania, to bring you our native pepper – the perfect addition to your meals when you want something a little bit different.
Wild Pepper Isle was founded on a vision for the Tasmanian pepperberry industry
The pepperberry industry is in its infancy and is growing rapidly. Pepperberry has not been widely available in Australia for more than two to three decades. In fact most Australians have still not heard of pepperberry, let alone know what to do with it. Demand is growing steadily as the word gets out. Unfortunately we can’t keep up with it! Demand exceeds supply. Nevertheless, as supply issues are addressed the future of pepperberry looks bright.
At Wild Pepper Isle we believe that there is a tremendous opportunity for Tasmania to embrace pepperberry as its own and to grow it into a significant industry. Pepperberry is indeed Tasmanian – its scientific name is Tasmannia lanceolata – as the name suggests it grows best in the cool climates of Tasmania.
Tasmania could be the Pepper Isle
We like to compare the pepperberry industry to the Tasmanian apple industry of last century. Tasmania invested heavily in the apple industry across both the 19th and 20th centuries. At its peak, in 1964, 8.9 million boxes of apples were produced and exported globally. The apple industry was so big that Tasmania became known as the Apple Isle. We so believe in the future of Tasmanian pepperberry that we like to muse that Tasmania might one day be known as the Pepper Isle.
We want to help this industry grow
True to our vision for the Pepper Isle we’ve made pepperberry core business. We have:
- made a range of pepperberry preserves to showcase some of our favourite uses of pepperberry. For which we have received numerous awards at the Australian Fine Food Awards and Royal Hobart Fine Food Awards.
- promoted pepperberry at Hobart’s famous Salamanca market – by submitting thousands of locals and tourists to taste testing!
- developed harvest capacity of naturally occurring pepper stands across Tasmania. In doing so increasing total state supply by perhaps 20%.
- bought a mountain(!) – Mt Ponsonby – to develop from wild harvest to a sustainable managed system
- initiated a small plant selection program
We hope that when we’re done, we will have helped to grow the industry a little.
We want to share Tasmanian bush products with the rest of Australia
Our award-winning products are on the “shelves” in our online store where they are soon to be complemented by amazing products of other small Tasmanian businesses who all share a love of this place, the Tasmanian bush and its renowned natural beauty. Our objective is to deliver these products into households right across Australia.
Wild Pepper Isle is located in the beautiful Palawa land, Tasmania, in southern Australia. In recognition of the deep history and culture of this island, we acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and their continuing connection to land, sea, waterways, sky and culture. We pay our respects to all Tasmanian Aboriginal communities, and their Elders past and present.