Due to the global demand for natural vanilla and a poor harvest in producing counties, vanilla prices have skyrocketed. Is switching to artificial vanillin the real solution?
With a growing clean label trend, and a consumer-base increasingly conscious of non-natural ingredients, it’s important for manufacturers to maintain the natural components to their products. While a “quick fix” may be to switch to cheaper alternatives, there could be an end in sight here. The large spike in demand over the last few years unfortunately left the world’s leading supplier, Madagascar, doing everything it could to keep up. The price increase in the crop forced farmers to prematurely harvest the crop, leading to poor quality beans. Madagascar quickly recognized this as a mistake and blocked exports of immature green vanilla.
As quoted in an article on Bloomberg.com “Why Booming Demand is Making Vanilla Taste Worst,” – “more production is on the way, Madagascar will harvest a bigger crop this year than last, in keeping with the plants biennial cycle.” Therefore, and hopefully, manufacturers should not expect these high prices to last.
Despite the appeal and increasing array of artificial alternatives, keeping vanilla natural is an essential tactic at Aurochemicals. Compromising the integrity of natural flavorings is not an option. We understand the key importance of natural ingredients and we are known for the 99 percent purity rating in natural vanillin, exceeding both food and pharmaceutical grades.
Even though the demand and price may be high for natural vanillin, we choose to continue to manufacture high quality natural vanillin through the most efficient process providing our consumers with a desirable, natural product in the end. Positioned as a major manufacturer in the natural vanillin industry it is incumbent upon Aurochemicals to provide its customers with confidence and reliability in the preferential choice of its products. Key to our production strategies is the systematic manufacture of optimum quantities of product so that customers can rely on us without any reservation or fear of not having desired quantities available to them. In addition, close collaboration and strong supply chain arrangements ensure that stocks of raw materials, even in difficult times and challenging circumstances, are secured and available without compromise. Investment stakes can be significant and the ramifications of a complex mosaic of factors including agricultural practices, climatic conditions, geographical locations and cultural impact can weave a challenging web of variables that will determine a consistent, reliable and cost effective way of maintaining a stable product in the global marketplace. It all requires prudent and nimble management of resources in conjunction with bold forecasting, skilful planning and execution with due consideration to market prices and visionary leadership none of which are in short supply at Aurochemicals.
By: Sagar Lachmansing, Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance