Why is vanilla so expensive?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
- In recent years, natural vanilla has sometimes been more expensive than silver by weight. Vanilla farmers in Madagascar are cashing in-but violence, theft and volatile markets are threatening their prospects.
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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.
The growers have to contend with another problem. Thieves are targeting the vanilla crops. 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. 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.
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Hello everyone :) I'm from Madagascar and for your information people from Madagascar are called Malagasy...no madagascarian or madagascan
Have a nice day ;)
Slow down there madagascarian
It doesn't kill you to learn something new ignorant, is that slow enough for you? :) come on kid grow up 😌🙂
@@levikeanu5156 You just got owned by an African.
Radimilahy Ambinintsoa doesn’t change the fact that you are infact.. M A D A G A S C A R I A N
youtu.be/addme/uvv_6sffBjyRXri_lv77mAUtdFUBDA nice malagasy
I dont mind paying a few extra bucks if it means these farmers are living a happy life and aren't under the tyranny of mega corporations that pay them peanuts for hours of hard work
you do know that " mega corporations" have workers probably more workers than these farmers , right???
@@enrique5850 I dont get your point
@Enrique What?
I didn’t understand one thing you just said but it sounds positive
@@Mxniz basically my point was that I dont mind paying extra for vanilla or vanilla based products if it means that these farmers aren't under the employ of mega corporations who care only about profit and pay the farmers who work for them next to nothing for hours of hard work and also since they are in 3rd world countries they have no workers rights or labour laws that protect them from inhumane conditions
If the price is high, these people can afford to buy solar panels and have nice homes.
Okay, it's okay for vanilla to be so expensive if it means giving them a good livelihood.
Trinity Jade I am honestly surprised with they expertise investing in Solar panels! This is essential especially in countries with sunny weather for long periods. I don’t know why governments don’t estimulate it more.
Trinity Jade sadly not all workers really benefit from vanilla.
Did any people on the video told that they bought solar panels? I rewatched it and couldn't find that part
@@walhallw7436 they can afford solar panels if the prices is high, but I guess none of them did bought it.
But this also mean that companies will try using synthetic vanilla
If my money is going to hard workers, and not some big company for vanilla, im happy paying for it :)
Keriti same
Fun fact: almost all vanilla growers are smallholders working their own plot. If there are kids it be their own, just like farmers in the western world. SJWs can just go away and quit whining
@@Zahrul3 Prices you pay at the market isn't necessarily the price the farmers get paid though. Seed, collectors, processors, distributors, importers, exporters, governments all collects their slices, and added together they often end up being much more than the farmer's slice.
@@yvrelna and they should have that money. thats how economy works. You have to do their service if you dont want to pay them.
@@user-wl7bw5hq6l Yes I agree that they should get paid for the service they provide. But my point is that for a lot of crops, a lot of those jobs are not necessarily done by "smallholders working their lot", but huge corporations.
The increase in price of the crop in global market does not always translate to increased pay to farmers.
"The farmers are cashing in."
Doesn't look like they are the people who cash in the most in this documentary.
Ikr.
Exactly...
Well, information can be twisted to a certain degree so much so that some may mislead ppl.
Really look at those people, they don't look like people with a lot of money.
We all know the real people who are cashing in are suppliers
As a kid id walk back home afterschool and pass the vanilla farmers houses who would sun dry the vanilla on their front yard. Gosh the SMELL is so strong and yummy it permeates through the whole area, good memories.
I didnt know that vanilla is an orchid. Just now
Me too
In my 30s and didnt know that ...feel a bit shameful there about how much things are being taken for granted... didn't even know where are the source of things we own 😵
@@iikimida I wish there was a way to easily replicate real vanilla super easily.
And it originated from Mexico
*didn't
The price isn't an issue as long as the quality isn't compromised. Those companies would pay any amount for top quality vanilla. That's a fact.
Can I sell my vanilla beans to you. Please reply
@@mosanmowarimo687 I'm interested
Amethyst empress count me in
@@athirahsufyan7509 Yo, did the dude ever follow you up on that?
@@untitled3313 Yo, did the dude ever follow you up on that?
I was literally searching Amazon yesterday to buy Vanilla extract and thought why is Vanilla is so pricey, only to wake up to this video😯?
They knew
@Spiralina It didnt randomly appear in my recommendations as I am subscribed to this channel but still find it coincidental.
They make you search for a vanilla product on Amazon... then to watch the video to write this comment. Be carefull.. they are using and watching you !!
@@zaccauditore3775 he just said he was subscribed to this channel. And posting relevant videos based on research is good, why would it even be bad. I'd rather have videos based on my personal info rather random vids about irrelevant stuff
Because companies market towards you so they throw everything related to your last search to make you buy more of it I once searched up a phone and got nothing but ads for that exact phone and exact listing it was so obvious
For the first time in my life Im happy for something to go up in price.
Don't be. Pretty sure they don't get as much as they should and someone else is getting rich over this.
@@ioanakat yup, you got the point. Maybe this is the reason they don't get rich.
*I'm
@@mikehunt3060 ou’yre os betiful :D
If you're good at something, never do it for free
-the joker
Ya Boi Diglett thank you pewdiepie i’m good at jerking off, who will write my check?
@@idk-gq3lh im gonna role on a porn film as a fucker then is that helps to others?
I wish I took this advice. I've been suckered for most of my life.
@@RCGJR_ porn lmao
Ya Boi Diglett there is no joker. It’s a comic book.
I'm a vanilla dude. I see vanilla.
I clicked.
Dude, I really like your lyrics videos!
@@daveheya4097 omg tysm~ i made them cuz i luv the songs sm... but ty~✊
😀😀😁😁😂😂
Same bro
Hahaha
Fun fact: the manual pollination for vanilla was discovered by a slave called Edmond Albius who lived on my home island of Réunion. At the time Réunion was called Bourbon Island after the French royal dynasty, and to this day Vanille Bourbon is reputed to be the best quality vanilla, so much so that Madagascar likes to call its vanilla for Bourbon. As fas as I understand, a lot of the difference in quality has to do with the processing after harvest, as the vanilla has to be very carefully fermented and dried. Different bacteria strands for the fermentation play a role and that makes the whole thing as much an art as a science, a bit like cheese.
Squirrel then why did you read?
Wrong, It was discovered by Cortez and Montezuma after they had lost track in the forest and were accidentally found something good to their chocolate cup.
Hi guys, the orchid vanilla was indeed discovered by the conquistadors in Mexico. There, the flower is fertilized by a fly specific to vanilla. Edmond Albius discovered the art of manually fertilizing the flower, without the assistance of the fly. That allowed for the establishment of vanilla as an industry outside Mexico. I apologize for being unclear in my initial post.
@Squirrel you are really smart! Very witty, amazed by the sarcasm
@Squirrel I think it's a sarcasm to you
Wait that means Vanilla is more expensive than my house
He have home u maroon but its less expensive than ur fuckin expensive one lol
You have a home?
@Sachinraddy Bappasai emo
I bet it smells so good in Madagascar 🤤🤤🤤
Aaron Bowley not so much XD
@@ForLoveAndPeace2010 Bruh😂😂😂
@@ForLoveAndPeace2010 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
FahQ smells much better than toxic ozone destroying fumes and 50% obesity rate
@@wandamaximoff7495 orly?
Wow. I never knew how hard it truly is for growing vanilla. A nice information for me cause Im currently am taking agriculture course. I appreciate the infor in the vid. :)
Nice picture
*Nice information
As long as farmers of the world are getting their proper price, everything is affordable.
There are people out there literally risking their lives, just so we can enjoy a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
*I’ll GLADLY spend whatever the price becomes to help them and their families!* ❤️
i mean, its for money not for the delight of your taste buds lol
In your vanilla ice cream, quite possibly therr is a tiny fraction of vanilla. As usual, it is the retailers who make big money by selling food that is high in sugar, aromas and poor in the actual ingredient
"Ice cream to cake"
Me: there's not much in between tho
I would hodl a lot of them.
Pancakes,muffins yea,thats all i can think of
Cookies, creme brulee, panna cotta, hot coco, tarts, meringue( and its byproducts).....many things 😁😂
In South India, the prices of vanilla dropped heavily a couple of years ago and a large number of farmers committed suicide.
Some of them invested a lot of their time and money (loans) and when the price suddenly dropped by more than half, they just didn't know what to do.
I think that’s a cautionary tale of why you should diversify your assets.
When people see other are cultivating something that has lots of value others start cultivating it too when the cultivation is a massive production the product loose value scarcity creat value that's whay i would think.
Should always have a variety of crops.
You forgot to mention that vanilla flower/ beans are originally from Mexico only. It’s the only place in the world where Melipona bees exist, (the only species of bees able to pollinate vanilla flowers ). After invading Mexico, the Spaniards took the vanilla
Flowers to Europe and then to Asian pacific areas, which can was possible after they learned by accident how to pollinate the flowers “artificially” or by hand, as they still do in Madagascar and elsewhere, except in Mexico. It’s another amazing food originated in Mexico and spread to the world. (Like avocados, chia, amaranth and chocolate!)
They definitely didn’t do their research, bc they’re looking for an answer, and they could’ve gotten an easier one by simply listening to the history of the plant itself lololol not to say it, but that’s definitely colonialism and capitalism at work.
no france took to it africa, madagascar, reunion island, and tahiti
not spain
know your history char mondo
Actually it was grown in the Americas around the gulf of Mexico, Carribean, all the way to the northeast tip of South America however the ones who pollinated were the Totonacs which is a tribe around the gulf andr it is speculated that the Olmecs were the first to use it in their food.
I just hope the farmers are being paid well. I'm afraid it's only the big companies who get richer by this and not the farmers.
They should have vanilla futures, where prices are negotiated in advance several months before harvest. And also the government should support farmers with hydroponics vanilla.
Thats not any governments responsibility.
@@greenghost6416 if it’s enriching the economy that might, it is. people wouldn’t care if it wasn’t there, so if matters enough to be noticed and nurtured by any basic and competent government
....yum. My wife makes homemade vanilla extract...by purchasing 2 raw strands and placing them in 500 ml of Vodka...2 weeks later...greatness for cookies, and cooking
@@oliverg967 Shut the fuck you kid
Fair enough
“Shut the fuck kid” proper English @ether okeney
@@oliverg967 please watch out your language
@@oliverg967 um...it is English, you dumbfuck
It kinda bother me that they need to sleep outside just because they can't trust others to protect their farm
My uncle cultivated 14 acres of vanilla in 2007 and tragically it's rate came down , on anger he cut it of and burned into fire which made the entire are smell like ice cream.😂
I want an ice cream now
after watching this video, i dont want to complain about vanilla’s price anymore. if it goes to the farmers then i’m more than happy to pay
Buy organic everything and you support farmers animals and the health of nature and the future.
If it was any european or north american country,, instead of madagascar... vanilla will be super expensive.**
maybe.. or its production was highly automated^^
You can see red wine, so expensive
*North American
@@johnuferbach9166 you can't automate the farming of vanilla
@@hellodanknessmyoldfriend6101 pretty sure you can to some extent
it's said that Indonesia is one of major producer of vanilla in the world. but sadly we never found it in our market. the only vanilla available here for us is the synthetic one. in crystal or liquid form.
Yes Orchids are very delicate. Mycorrhizal fungi are essential for the germination of orchid seeds. These roots are rare to be seen everywhere. Madagascar has a good density of Mycorrhizal roots per square metre.
don't you just love it when the expert people interview, and get to talk the most is always the one that has never grown vanilla in their life?
“... vigilante justice and a whole host of other violence connected to vanilla...”
So dark.
ikr he made it sound like it was wrong to protect your own property.
I clicked on this ad willingly cuz why not? This channel seems chill. 👌 No sarcasm though I’m being serious I like this stuff.
I love how professional this channel’s videos are...
0:56
Man that scenic beauty
Imagine waking up to it every day
What major companies are the largest dealers?
Who is the best middleman?
1:01 - 625% increase for vanilla in 5 years. Wow!
This is so much more than I was expecting. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing. Have learnt a lot about lovely vanilla.❤
I cannot imagine a world without vanilla. Who would have thought people cultivating the second most expensive spice in the world would be living such simple lives. I'm an Indian and I wish I lived closer to Madagascar so that j could have pure vanilla around me. These people and their livelihood needs to be protected, if for nothing else then for our own selfish tantrums for delicious food.
I should appreciate my friends from madagascar starting from now on. They have the vanilla
I’m in the field everyday in Indonesia and i can tell u that the situation is really tense with buyers waging unstable price wars whilst driving farmers’ expectations right through the roof. The price needs to go down to a more balanced and sustainable price for both buyers and farmers. USD40/kg farm gate price would be a lot of sustainable
Why is only Madagascar growing Vanilla for the world? Should we not be growing more elsewhere in the tropics?
Papua New Guinea also grows vanilla
@malourano *indonesia
Tahiti and Mexico also grow vanilla. But the issue is the distinct vanilla flavour we all know and love is from the Madagascar vanilla beans.
Indonesia to..
@malourano well it ain't enough
Madagascar is the first producer of vanilla however it's on the top five poorest country because the local population sell the vanilla at low prices compare to what foreign investor sell it to the big company if you go to the local village you'll see that the price don't exceed 100 dollar a kilo now
cydolin germain thats with most places look at danou in thephillipenes i believe they make guns that are untraceable and sell them for $100 while in us its x10 that
That's why we get it for affordable price. They are the primary producers. That's why they get less money
Never explained why the plants have to be pollinated by hand.
Something about the indigenous bees.
I've tried experimenting with many different types of insects to see if they can efficiently pollinate the vanilla flowers.
The fact is, they don't work. The best way to get high yields per plant (50-100 pods/plant) is still by manual hand pollination.
The natural pollinators of vanilla have already died out, some may have said.
Thank you for this hard working farmers ❤
Vanilla is one of my favorite smell/scent ever
One answer to all the expensive food questions,
It's hard to grow.
@@transit-future Not if left alone.
The right amount of temperature, water, pesticides, cross pollination manually are some of the things that they have to keep in mind. If they just let them grow like any other normal plant, then I don't think the product will be as expensive as they are.
@@transit-future lol. I know..
Nice time pass 😀
The workers' hands must be smelling like vanilla for days.
Musaddiq Ali hahahahahaha i thought so too hahahah
not really
A big salute to all Vanilla farmers🙏🙏🙏
I love how they are humble and are happy wt the way they live makes me appreciate the lil I have even more 🙏🏼♥️
Vanilla originated in Mexico. Yet this little documentary isn't anywhere near there.😐
the problem is not about mexico, the problem is because mexico doesn't allow opportunists to come in and set their own prices, in fact thats why mexico excels in vanilla planting and madagascar remains poor
So I've been eating mostly fake vanilla all this time? What a shame.
Not fake. But not 100% vanilla.
@@DBT1007 probably 100% artificial flavor not real vanilla
Haagen Dazs does use real vanilla. A VERY tiny amount, but it's real.
Atleast you know how it tastes like
Vanillin is vanillin in my book. Like a lab made diamond is still molecularly a diamond when compared to a mined diamond.
The economist is the best!!
I believe my company buys directly from the farmers as well! Best vanilla extract I've ever had.
00:36 i can smell vanilla...😂😂
Vanilla it's and endemic of Mexico, which it's also a huge market of this same crop, but it's not even mentioned in the article wtf the economists?!
Ricardo Guerrero they said majority comes from Madagascar, not all of it
Ryan M yeah but vanilla is originally from Mexico as so it’s chocolate. Even their names come from Nahuatl “chocolātl” and Spanish “vaina”. Just saying!
@@SRomeroS16 true lol
I remember when I was young there is a vanilla tree/plant in our backyard but we didn't mind about it and just let it grow but now we no longer see it growing in our place. I am from the Philippines by the way.
Farmers are really amazing. Respect.
I have the same question for saffron
Very small yield once a year is the answer.
Thank México for this delicacy
I love vanilla but I know nothing about it's supply and forming. Thanks for the valuable information.
In Kerala we are only getting Very less price less than 75 $ (5000 INR)for processed vanilla per kg and the farmers stopped farming
well next time I get a cone i'll wear a suit
Also in india,kerala for your information
Ho
Abin jose Abraham india is a land of natural resources
When i heard they were also growing it in the Netherlands I immediately planted one, wish me luck!
Thank you for that sharing.
Vanilla it's soooo good. Wish it was easier to grow.
Try buying honey
It's literally like liquid gold.
That's not how you use the word "literally"
Nitnif your in thr phillipines.
Pure honey extracted in front of your eyes is really cheap in india
Not if you are in Nigeria
Were i live raw honey is about $18-$20 a quart.
Vanilla is a orchid ? Hmmm didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.
5:19 yes in my country this crop cultivated in a plantation
why is 1843 in the top left?
Peter Pober it’s the name of the economist lifestyle / background magazine
Because the video was made in 1843!
karan Naga 😂
@@jacquesdelaharpe804 lol
But we plant vanilla in my country Uganda as well
2:25 that dude is rippppedddd 💪
Interesting. Madagascar is the most western point of the Austronesian migration that started in Taiwan and moved east as far as New Zealand and Hawaii. Indonesia and the Philippines are also part of the westward arc of the migration.
B Ghok Lang So that’s why he seemed a bit Southeast Asian
The freer the market, the freer the poeple
Greater Union
This newspaper is literally based around advocating for liberalism and personal freedom.
Also, what on Earth is wrong with Jews, and why do you think they run the world?
Julien not really
In Tamil language
vanilla = Sky Moon
Venilla = White Moon
Have a nice day ..😊
My great grandfather used to farm vanilla as well during Dutch occupation. The Dutch really cashed in so much money.
Very informative! Thnx!🙏
These lot must smell lovely
That's a joke right?
@@lewisjamie288 no they would smell amazing, where's the joke in that ?
Everybody's gangster till they've learned that the world is not just rainbows and vanilla
in my place there are lots of vanilla and they are bought very cheaply by local buyers ... I am from Indonesia, North Sulawesi, Manado, Minahasa ....
Love this kind of videos! 😍
Companies need to buy from real Farmers and Not thieves!
you are eating synthetic flavor on ice-creams, not the real vanilla.
Depends which ice cream ive had vanilla ice cream where you can see the black fleks in it.
man yeah but they are doing this by synthesizing the vanilla. It means the amount of vanilla is clearly low...
You really think they cut all the vanilla in two and put it in your ice cream. This is economically impossible...
@@howey935 Surprise, these black fleks are fake too 😂
@@zaccauditore3775 I eat hagan dazs
@@Natsumi170 none said you cannot. Just dont think it s regular vanilla. It s like when you in a supermaket the vanilla liquid... You smell the vanilla but it s just a synthetic vanilla.
Wow and here i am chilling.And eating vanilla ice cream.
and it is possible to make your own
I made some extract using Sri Lanka Vanilla beans. The extract was mix of flavors such as cocoa scent, a hit of resins and dates. I bought beans from eBay, (a seller called "purevanillabeans" ). 1Kg for $270 which was so cheap compared to others, but still expensive for me :-(
Vanilla is originally from my country Mexico. ♥️🇲🇽
@acammtt excatly
acammtt funny you still climbing that wall tho
It's hard manual labor therefore it's not expensive !
I will say more : vanilla has no price ! I love vanilla ice cream and coffee with vanilla.
* * *
Delightful video !
As always rare , very interesting and unique information from Great and Legendary The Economist !
* * *
Dear The Economist !
Together with you I feel happier ! It's true !
How old is the person who wrote this omg
@Jon lmao get the these nice boomers out of my TH-cam
Freak......................
Jon c’est dodo
Vanilla: My worth is more than silver
Saffron: Huh! 🤭
Why is this video reposted?
where is vanilla so expensive?.. it is the cheapest of all flavours
Because some are fake or artificial that's why it's expensive.
ive never bought a fresh vanilla in my whole life
ohh but fresh vanilla are always the green ones.
I'm glad they can afford expensive stuff with the high prices from the reduced production from the cyclone in 2018 but 20 dollars for some vanilla extract is a lot. I cant wait for it to get back to sub 10 dollars
Thank you for sharing.🙏🏽
They have to pollinate by hand? Meanwhile in mexico it grows in the wild! I wonder why mexico is not the main exporter since vanilla is a native plant. Anyway the taste does not compare 😋
2:26 this old man is WAM wtf
now i want ice cream and yogurt aaa-
i wish i could bulk buy those wrapped up chunks of vanilla beans. nicest scent in the world