Around 80% of global vanilla production comes from Madagascar. As is often the case, this concentrated production in Madagascar has led to unsustainable development from an ecological and social perspective, which is why the country is one of the poorest in the world, despite its valuable export. Furthermore, Madagascar is repeatedly hit by severe cyclones, which lead to crop failures and subsequently drive up vanilla prices through speculation. These high prices have led to purely profit-driven traders entering the vanilla business, thus transferring the money from the vanilla to the producers instead of to the producers.
In our search for a sustainable alternative for our products, we came across the vanilla from Vanilla Dream It comes from the Ruwenzori Mountains in western Uganda. Vanilla Dream ensures that vanilla farmers are paid fairly and supports them in various ways, such as with training and coaching on quality and sustainability topics (e.g. agroforestry), with support and encouragement for organic certification, with work materials such as rain jackets or rubber boots, and with pre-harvest financing. Fair pay makes it worthwhile for the farmers to give the vanilla, which is grown naturally and free from pesticides or other chemicals, enough time to ripen before the capsule fruits are harvested. This is the only way the pods can later develop their optimal flavor and achieve high quality during fermentation, which takes several months.
The Ruwenzori Mountains are also home to the critically endangered mountain gorillas, of which there are currently around 1,000 left. As a responsible company, Vanilla Dream therefore supports the Conversations Through Public Health (CTPH), which has been working to preserve the rainforest and the people living around the gorillas' habitat since 2003.
Images and video © Vanilla Dream
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