The Vanilla Equation

2 Min Read By Wade Winters

 

"Ask the Expert" features advice from Wade Winters, Vice President of Supply Chain for Consolidated Concepts Inc. Please send questions for this column to Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine Executive Editor Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.

This post was written by Charlie Lewis and Wade Winters.

Q: What alternatives are available when the price of vanilla skyrockets?

Because of the demand and costly process to produce, vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron.

A: If your restaurant or bakery uses any reasonable amount of vanilla, you have seen the impact of a price increase, which was the result of a cyclone that hit Madagascar in early March.  Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of vanilla, supplying nearly 75 percent of all available supply.

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from a flowering plant (orchid) that grows on a vine, and takes three-plus years to grow, harvest and dry before it can be sold. It is a…