Under the pressure of interest groups, the government in Madagascar is increasingly interfering with the
vanilla harvest. The disadvantage of this is, the more government intervention, the slower processes go, but
the advantage is clear, quality is again monitored. After all Bourbon vanilla out of
Madagascar has lost some of its luster in recent years. The government has enacted laws and regulations
for fermentation, limiting the number of exporters to 100, they set an
end date for the export season, prescribed recommended retail prices and are supervising if the construction of
factories is according to international standards.

Establishing price stability is aimed at the end date of the export season on May 31, in combination with
recommended prices. The world market price is determined here, that is the signal
that people want to give. It is not mentioned that the price is lower than in previous years under pressure from emerging countries
such as Indonesia and Uganda. The decreasing price is the beginning of discouraging farmers in other
countries. This has happened many times in the past.

This only bring benefits for users in the western world. Good qualities,
attractive prices and a higher standard of food safety.
Madagascar is leading the industry and it seems that by timely intervention with many measures, it will retain its dominant
position in the world, putting other countries at a considerable distance for the time being.
The good news is, of course, that decreasing prices are making vanilla attractive again for the end user.

Breda, march 2020

Henk de Kroon

Vanille B.V.