Originally from Madagascar, its name comes from "Voa" which means fruit, and "tsiperifery" which is the name of the plant in Malagasy. Malagasy village communities harvest this very rare pepper entirely by hand between June and August.

Voatsiperifery grows wild in the rainforest of southeastern Madagascar. Its difficult harvesting is dangerous: the vine climbs up to 30m high and the fruits rise towards the sun in the tree canopy.