One of our investment opportunities is vanilla. Vanilla is a noteworthy crop because of the amount of labor it takes to produce a single kilogram. There is a small window of time where farmers have to pollinate the blooming orchids by hand, which will already have taken 3 to 4 years to grow. The intensive process of yielding vanilla makes it the second most expensive spice in the world, falling only behind saffron.

Madagascar was the world’s largest producer of this spice. However, with back-to-back typhoons in 2017 and 2018, the vanilla production in Madagascar took a hit. Yet, the demand did not decrease. McCormick & Co., the world’s largest spice company, noted that this massive decline in vanilla has encouraged them to start looking elsewhere for production.

Indonesia may be the answer to the depletion in vanilla resources, as there are farms starting to cultivate this precious crop. With the nickname of “green gold,” Vanilla is an ethical investment. Over the last 3 years we have already planted 40,000 vanilla orchids, spread out over 25 plantations. Over the next 3 years we expect to increase this to 100,000 orchids.