why is salt so cheap but pepper is so expensive?

Answer 1

Because salt is mined and pepper is little ground up seeds from a plant...supply and demand.

Answer 2

Salt is found in the ocean and since the ocean is a large body of water, salt could be produced in any part of the water. Pepper on the other hand is not that easy to produce, it is a flowering vine, cultivated for it's fruit and the process to make pepper is to dry the plant therefore it is used as a spice

Answer 3

Most salt you get is mined. It is relatively "pure", requiring little cleaning and processing, therefore a very inexpensive product.
Pepper is a labour intensive product, mainly imported from Asian countries.

Very few countries process salt from the ocean: as the percentage of salt in sea water is quite low and desalination is a slow process.

Another reason for not using sea water for salt - ever seen the amount of garbage barges heading out to dump the daily collections?

Answer 4

All salt comes from the ocean, a distillation process of sorts. It's very simple and cheap.

Pepper comes from peppercorns. They must be grown, picked and processed. It's much more labor intensive than salt.

Here's a good question: Why are peppercorns more expensive than ground pepper?

Answer 5

PEPPER is a spice thats imported. SAlt is everywhere. LOOK at the GREAt salt LAKES.

Answer 6

Its because theres more salt then there is pepper

Answer 7

You can make salt from sea water, pepper has to be cultivated.

Answer 8

Because the pepper fruit is green at first and then it has to be put in the sun and it has to turn black. it takes time for that process.

Answer 9

The ocean produces salt -- it's vast and free.
Pepper is grown and must be harvested. Land for growing isn't vast.

Answer 10

Um, because things that are bad for you are usually cheaper than things that are healthy for you??? Seems that way.