"Madagascar... natural disasters in the... island... off the southeastern coast of Africa will affect how much you pay... for vanilla.
"Eighty to 90 percent of the global supply of vanilla beans comes from Madagascar," said Melissa Basta of Custom Blending of Fort Collins... The north coast of Madagascar has been hit with a series of cyclones that have devastated the country and the northeast coast's vanilla bean crop, their primary source of income. ... Custom Blending contributed... to UNICEF to meet emergency needs... Tropical Cyclone Indlala on March 15 and Cyclone Jaya on April 4 hit... with... force. ... "With the majority of our vanilla beans coming out of Madagascar's vanilla coast, we feel very connected to the growers and the vanilla-growing region of Madagascar," said Joe Basta, vice president of retail sales. "When the fifth cyclone hit in the course of three weeks, 20 to 80 percent of the vanilla crops were damaged, which is going to drive vanilla prices up," Melissa Basta said. ... The market had just begun to see a drop in the price of vanilla after cyclones and flooding his[t] Madagascar in 2002, ... When Madagascar's vanilla coast virtually was wiped out, other countries got into the vanilla market including Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and India, helping to stabilize the price... Vanilla... must be hand-pollinated, making it one of the most labor-intensive crops in the world... It takes three years for a vanilla vine to produce a flower and to recover from cyclone damage. If an orchid is not pollinated within a few hours of opening, it will wither and the opportunity to produce a bean will be lost... Custom Blending invests in sustainability by working with an association of 100 growers to acquire the vanilla beans. Together, Custom Blending partners with FANAMBY, a Malagasy nongovernmental organization, to help develop crop diversification and educate the farmers to balance the pressures on the land and live harmoniously with nature... Locally, Custom Blending has... signed an agreement with Conservation International to continue supporting vanilla growers in Madagascar." article URL : http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070409/BUSINESS/704090301 photos : 1) [caption : Joe Basta of Custom Blending examines a vanilla plant in Madagascar. The Fort Collins-based maker of vanilla gets most of its beans from Madagascar.] http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/misc/zoom.pbs&Site=G2&Date=20070409&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=704090301&Ref=AR 2) [caption : Joe Basta sniffs the aroma of vanilla beans.] http://cmsimg.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=G2&Date=20070409&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=704090301&Ref=V2&Profile=1046&MaxW=600&Q=80 ************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
