Why Booming Demand Is Making Vanilla Taste Worse
- Price of aromatic bean has tripled in year as quality slipped
- Madagascar moves to curb low-grade supply and boost production
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There’s nothing plain about the vanilla market.
The price of the bean used to flavor everything from ice cream and chocolate to cola and pastries more than tripled in the past year as output slipped and quality suffered. That should have been a boon for top producer Madagascar, the island nation off Africa’s southeast coast. Instead, the government is imposing measures to improve supply and quality to protect its market share.