MADAGASCAR, THE VANILLA ISLAND
Madagascar
September 2013
36 images
The vast island of Madagascar possesses a huge natural wealth on its territory: precious stones, strategic minerals, precious woods, and an endemic fauna and flora. And the Great Island can pretend to possess a good so precious that it is coveted by several countries in the world: its vanilla.
The vanilla has been implanted in Madagascar by people from the island of La R?union at the end of the 19th century, and its quality, taste and aroma have no equal in the world, according to great chefs and pastry chefs all over the world, who are claiming its merits.
Malagasy exporters and producers explain that this quality is due to the unique techniques of roasting, sorting, drying, that have remain unchanged for more than a century, and most importantly thanks to the peculiarity of the clay-rich lands and to the microclimate in the North-East of Madagascar.
Apart from the saffron, Madagascar?s vanilla is considered as one of the most expensive spice in the world, sold at around 50 dollars per kilogram in 2013. There is no rate regulation for the vanilla at a world level, just the same as coffee, which allows the exporters to speculate on its sale price. The Malagasy workforce is among the cheapest in the world. The United States, Europe, Japan, and more recently, China and Brazil purchase vanilla exclusively from Madagascar. Thus, the market is very lucrative. Madagascar produces between 1500 and 1700 tons of vanilla per year, adding up to 60% of the world market. Madagascar's vanilla largely exceeds that of Indonesia and India in terms of quality.
What are the production secrets making out for Madagascar's vanilla success?
Report in the North-East region of Madagascar, in Sambava, the capital of Malagasy vanilla, for BEEF! Magazine (Germany)