The Pepper Syndicate (Pepersyndicaat) was a commercial joint venture established by the Atjehsche Handel Maatschappij and the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) to monopolize the pepper trade in Aceh.
Operations and Failure
The syndicate provided large advance capital loans to local chiefs (uleebalang) and garden supervisors (peutoeha seuneubo) in exchange for exclusive pepper purchasing rights.
However, due to speculative price collapses, secret side-sales (boengong lada) by planters, double export tax assessments in Banda Aceh, and the instability of the war environment, the syndicate suffered heavy financial losses totaling tens of thousands of guilders and ultimately collapsed.
See Also
Source
De pepercultuur in Atjeh en onderhoorigheden, H. Heyl, Atjeh Drukkerij en Boekhandel, 1912, pp. 20-21, 31, 43, 47-49.