It's time for radical transparency in the world of vanilla.
At Origin, we believe that putting producers first is the key to everyone's long-term success.
Biggest Threats To Vanilla Farmers
Years of farming before the first vanilla bean is harvested
Little-to-no access to foreign buyers
Changing climate patterns
High risk of theft and robbery
The production of natural vanilla involves a variety of complex risks. From robbery, climate change, to volatile market prices, vanilla farmers around the world are taking a risk by cultivating our favorite spice.
For producers, it's much easier to cultivate tomatoes, rice, or something more reliable. At Origin, we want farmers to know that we are here to work with them long-term, and that they should continue cultivating vanilla for years to come.
Natural vanilla is scarce and the global demand far outweighs the supply. Vanilla is second labor-intensive commodity in the world, and each bean has a long story behind it.
“We treat our beans like newborn babies,” one of our farmers explained. “The beans are delicate, and we need to analyze and maintain the health of our vanilla beans every single day.”
In late 2017, a strong cyclone in Madagascar destroyed roughly 40% of the global vanilla production, resulting in a severe scarcity of the product which brought prices up to all-time highs.
Due to the high prices and global scarcity surrounding the vanilla industry, vanilla farms and the people who run them are at constant threat of attacks and robbery.
Invest in modern farm infrastructure to increase yields in terms of both volume and quality, as well as as farm security
Utilize our own in-house processing and exporting team to manage quality control, farmer relationships, and supply chain management
Introduce a "safety net," which is an agreement between us and our farmers to protect against devastating and volatile market swings
Offer communities the opportunity to increase crop diversification, specifically in coffee, tea, and cinnamon producing regions
We're also leading the way in investing in vanilla farming in Malaysia. Due to the struggles surrounding Madagascar vanilla cultivation, Malaysia has seen a wave of new vanilla farmers looking to tap into the global demand.
Our farmers are used to selling to middlemen who sell to foreign buyers, like us. Now, our farmers have true access to global markets.
Cutting out the middleman increases farmer income, which in turn, promotes vanilla farming and secures a healthier future for the industry and the people who work in it.
Our work is designed to promote new vanilla cultivation in our origin countries. More farmers means more vanilla. More vanilla means lower global prices. Lower prices leads to higher demand from consumers, which helps everyone in the industry.
