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The posting by Viateur on November 13 about falling vanilla prices, took me by surprise. All along I thought there was a world wide shortage of vanilla – at least high quality vanilla. There is a Cinderella story in progress in Hawaii, on the Big Island. It may have spread to other islands by now. To summarize, for the first time the USA is involved in the commercial production of vanilla. It all began with a very determined man who found and rescued an abandoned vanilla plant way back around 1941. His name was Tom Kadooka, a wonderful gentleman who eventually saw the potential for the vanilla orchid as a cash crop on the Big Island of Hawaii. In 1980 he really got into the culture and breeding of Vanilla planifolia with the goal of eventually introducing it as an agricultural crop. He made great progress in selection, breeding for quality, disease resistance, etc. He did all he could to spread the word among the people of the island so they would realize how much money they could make on so little land, and the high labor time for vanilla was at a time of year when the labor intensity for coffee plantations was down. Tom lived in Kealakekua close to the famed Kona Coffee country at 1500 feet elevation where it was cool. Tom encountered a huge obstacle during all the years. The farmers and growers weren’t interested in growing orchids as a crop. They preferred to stick with the crops they already grew and knew best. Change was not on their agenda. It was a discouraging, uphill battle for Tom. But he was nothing if not determined – a man who never gave up. I first met Tom Kadooka and his dear wife Evelyn in about 1994 while on a trip to a scientific meeting near Kona. I still cherish the photo a friend took of me with the two of them. He had an orchid nursery with a variety of orchids and an area covered with netting devoted to Vanilla planifolia. He developed a method for drying the vanilla “pods” a critical step in producing vanilla. As I walked through his mini-vanilla plantation, the aroma of vanilla permeated the air. Mmmmmmmm. Tom’s vanilla was very high quality. As it turned out Hawaii was the ideal place to grow the orchid vines for production of vanilla seed pods yielding wonderful vanilla if only growers would see the light and grow it (which includes hand pollination at a very critical time). In recent years something wonderful happened. Tom met a young entrepreneur, Jim Reddekopp and his wife Tracy. Jim became excited about vanilla. Tom took him under his wing and taught him everything he could. Jim invested in some land on the island and soon started a company devoted to vanilla - The Hawaiian Vanilla Company. That is where Cinderella comes in. Vanilla plants were everywhere, grown from cuttings, even tissue culture. Later on many other people did it too as others started growing the orchids to provide orchid pods to sell to Jim. The Hawaiian Vanilla Company continues to pass on Tom’s knowledge to hobbyists and growers at seminars each year. They recruit new growers to produce vanilla pods, and the HVC grows the vanilla orchids themselves. I even saw the big “cloth-screen” covered area where rows and rows of vanilla vines were growing and making flowers and pods. They are selling products made with vanilla, including a body-hand crème that is absolutely wonderful! Meadowgold has a contract with HVC, and they now sell Hawaiian Vanilla Ice Cream with real prime quality vanilla from the Big Island of Hawaii. Last year when I went to Hawaii to enjoy the 2004 Ironman Triathlon, I wanted so much to visit with Tom Kadooka again, but sadly he had passed on just days before we got to the island. He was about 83 then. The legacy he left is enormous. Youth groups, scholarships, honors of all kinds were created in honor of Tom. Tom founded the Kona Daifukuji Orchid Club which is active and vibrant. Orchids magazine published an article about him a few years ago. Other articles have appeared in the print press numerous times. His departure is a great loss to many. I could write pages and pages, but the best thing for OGD readers to do in order to gain a better understanding of Hawaiian vanilla is go to the web site: http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/ We hear a lot about Madagascar, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Tahiti, and a few other places where vanilla has been produced. But until the last few years the USA was never one of them. I am happy to say because of two bold and determined men with insight, who were in the right place at the right time, the USA is now a player in the vanilla economic game, thanks to Tom Kadooka and Jim Reddekopp. Cheers to all. Charles Bracker |
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