Small farms in Uganda could be the next big thing for the vanilla bean

What’s a name worth? When it comes to the $31 billion global vanilla market, it’s worth a lot. And that’s not always a good thing.

Around 80% of the world’s vanilla is currently harvested from a single country: Madagascar. The large island’s nation’s former colonial connections to France and French culinary culture, along with successful marketing throughout the 1970s and 1980s, created a situation where “the default answer about where vanilla comes from is Madagascar,” according to Seth Petchers from the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative, a trade organization representing around 70% of the global vanilla industry.

In recent years, however, industries large and small have seen the perils of overdependence on a single source of origin, and vanilla is no exception. After years of low prices and market instability, Cyclone Gamane ravaged Madagascar vanilla fields earlier this year, creating fears of a shortage.

This volatility raised calls for diversification within vanilla sourcing. The most promising candidate for a second source, per the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative, is Uganda. This landlocked African nation has a long-growing tradition and some unique benefits and flavors that have industry insiders hopeful about its prospects.

The strengths of Ugandan vanilla

British farmers introduced vanilla to Uganda in the 1920s, and vanilla became an important commercial crop beginning in the 1940s. Today, it is primarily grown on small family farms spanning just a few acres at most, often alongside other crops like coffee. Uganda’s topography and geography, however, lends itself particularly well to vanilla production.

For one, the country’s equatorial location makes it the only nation to produce two vanilla crops per year, as opposed to one annual harvest in Madagascar. Uganda’s terroir also produces vanilla that is exceptionally high in vanillin, the aromatic compound that provides the spice’s distinctive taste and smell.

Photo courtesy of Sustainable Vanilla Initiative

This results in what Petchers calls a “big and bold” vanilla flavor that has been earning fans in baked goods and confections. In a recent interview with Supply Chain Dive, Craig Nielsen, VP of sustainability at flavor house Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, raved about Ugandan vanilla’s “warmth” and “depth,” noting that its cocoa-like notes shine in ice creams in particular.

But the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative is adamant that the two African countries shouldn’t be thought of as either/or competitors. Despite some flavor differences, Ugandan vanilla is the same cultivar of vanilla planifolia that is produced in Madagascar. This means the two can be blended in extracts and products to create new flavor profiles.

“It’s very versatile and is certainly relevant to all of the applications where companies might normally use Madagascar vanilla,” Petchers said. “It has a great story that can make it a standalone, but it also is solid enough where it can add to a product without having its name called out.”

Now is Uganda’s time to rise

Petchers said he’s had his eye on Ugandan vanilla for close to a decade. Over that time, he has seen promising indicators that the Ugandan industry is poised for growth, even while the global vanilla market has struggled.

“I’ve seen a real doubling down by the industry to coalesce in a way that it hadn’t before, and for the exporters in VANEX [the Association of Vanilla Exporters of Uganda] to really start collaborating together,” he said. This has resulted in an increase of exports, rising to a recent peak of 270 metric tons in 2023 during a price crisis. Petchers said that puts the country close to being the No. 2 producer globally.

The country’s vanilla industry has also received a boost through the VINES project, a USDA-funded Food for Progress project via the nonprofit Catholic Relief Services. This investment has helped more than 16,000 small farmers, 30% of which are women, improve both their quality of life and their yields.

“That has made a big difference,” Petchers said. “It has included everything from working with farmers to make their production more efficient, good agricultural practices, working on quality and stressing the need for vanilla to be left on the vine so it’s fully ripe.”

These investments have made the Ugandan vanilla industry ready to take its place on the global stage. The one-two punch of market instability and extreme weather has simply added urgency to the conversation.

“Diversifying the country of origin for vanilla isn’t top of mind for most brands because they haven’t experienced a disruption yet, but expanding to multiple sources is a great way to future-proof supply,” Nielsen said. “Uganda isn’t as well known in the vanilla industry yet, but it’s emerging as a world-class source.”