From ice cream to cakes...
...and even perfume...
...vanilla is the go-to flavour the world over
In recent years the price of natural vanilla has shot up
At one point it was more expensive than silver by weight
80% of the world’s vanilla is grown in the perfectly suited climate...
...of the north-east region of Madagascar
It’s the country’s primary export crop
For the farmers, like Beni Odon...
...life is far sweeter when the vanilla price is high
In 2014 vanilla was $80 a kilo
Three years later it was $600
Today it’s around $500
The price rise is due in part to global demand
The trend of eating naturally...
...means that food companies have shunned synthetic flavouring...
...in favour of the real deal
Beni and the other farmers are cashing in
But things can change very quickly
Price fluctuations affect producers of agricultural commodities everywhere...
...but vanilla is particularly volatile
In just a few weeks the price can jump, or plummet, by over 20%
Liberalisation is one reason for such movements
The Malagasy government once regulated the vanilla industry...
...and its price
But now the price is negotiated at the point of sale...
...which makes for a freer market but a more volatile one
It’s also a tiny industry
A single cyclone...
...can knock out the entire crop within Madagascar
It’s also a difficult and delicate crop to grow
Vanilla is an orchid that needs to be hand pollinated
This is a really, really labour-intensive practice
If anyone has grown an orchid at home...
...you experience how difficult it is to keep an orchid alive in your house...
...now try growing this in the middle of a Malagasy rainforest
It takes roughly six months to grow it on the vine...
...and then six months of manual post-harvesting
Now the interesting thing about vanilla is...
...you need to take it off the vine...
...when it’s almost rotted
The growers have to contend with another problem
Thieves are targeting the vanilla crops
So Malagasy now are sleeping out in their vanilla fields
They can’t rely on those who are charged from the state...
...to protect them or protect their crop
They’re having to take matters into their own hands...
...and this has really caused some problems...
...vigilante justice and a whole host of other violence...
...connected to vanilla
Some farmers have resorted to harvesting the beans before they’re ripe...
...but this produces a poorer quality vanilla...
...and ultimately pushes down the price
The combination of deteriorating quality...
...and high prices is having an effect
The vanilla price bubble may burst
If the price continues to stay high...
...there’s a number of scenarios that will play out
We can continue as we are now...
...and have a relatively unstable market...
...where farmers are growing vanilla...
...under very, very distressful conditions of theft and violence
You could have the state and corporate sectors step in and...
...try to re-regulate the market in some way
That might stabilise prices and also quality
Or you might just have the market crash out
Big buyers that provide vanilla...
...for the likes of Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s...
...are now working directly with farmers...
...in a bid to gain greater control over quality
Other companies have started to look elsewhere for their natural vanilla
Indonesia, Uganda and even the Netherlands are growing the crop
For a century Madagascar has enjoyed a near-monopoly on vanilla
But this industry may be in line...
...for a radical overhaul