Vanilla's high price sparks wave of thefts, farmers fight back

Vanilla includes over 100 species, but only one of them – flat-leaved vanilla – is cultivated for spice production. It is a vine that reaches about 50 feet long and grows as an epiphyte, similar to the popular Phalaenopsis orchids often found in homes. Cultivating vanilla is very demanding, and the high prices drive farmers to protect themselves against thieves.

Vanilla originates from the tropical forests of South and Central America. Today, it is also cultivated in other parts of the world, with Madagascar being the largest producer of this spice. Madagascar is also the source of the well-known Bourbon vanilla or Bourbon vanilla. The vanilla orchid has beautiful, rather large leaves of an intense, light color. The most beautiful part of vanilla is the flowers—large, fragrant, and with a waxy sheen. The fruits are commonly known as vanilla beans.

Vanilla fruits are harvested when fully ripe, but at that time, they are dark green and do not yet emit their characteristic smell. Their intense, sweet aroma results from special processing, which involves alternating "sweating" and drying of the pods.

This process takes about six months and ends when the pods turn black and develop a whitish coating. This naturally occurring coating consists of vanillin, which, along with two others, is responsible for the characteristic scent of vanilla. The more vanillin present on the pods, the higher the quality of the vanilla beans. It is worth noting that the compound available in stores or present in most vanilla-flavored sweets is obtained artificially.

Cultivating vanilla is labor-intensive. Each flower must be hand-pollinated (and the pods are also hand-harvested). Moreover, these flowers bloom only for one day a year. The plant requires constant weeding and numerous agronomic treatments. Vanilla blooms every 2-3 years, so the fruit does not appear every season, affecting its price.

In 2018, vanilla cost nearly $600 per kilogram, more expensive than silver. Since then, the price has fallen to $250 per kilogram, but that's still a lot, according to a Business Insider piece on vanilla. These amounts encourage thieves to attack farmers and steal their crops. Farmers, therefore, arm themselves to defend the vanilla. If a farmer's vanilla is stolen, it means the end of their livelihood. They have no income.

Farmers also manually stamp vanilla pods, similar to cattle branding. Thanks to personalized markings, it is harder to sell stolen vanilla pods without proving ownership. It is worth emphasizing that intermediaries play a significant role in the Madagascar market, so farmers do not receive the full amounts from their harvests.