The Hindu : Business : GMMF move gives new hope to vanilla growers

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Friday, Mar 14, 2008
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GMMF move gives new hope to vanilla growers

Staff Reporter

To use only natural vanillin extract

Vanilco to supply natural vanillin extract
Rise in exports of vanilla

KOCHI: Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation (GMMF), makers of ice-cream brand Amul, has decided to use only pure natural vanillin extract for its entire range of vanilla ice-creams from later this month. This will be good news to thousands of farmers in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, as vanilla prices will rise from the dumps in a year that has seen the price of other spices appreciating significantly.

Vanilla India Producer Company (Vanilco), a venture representing 2,500 farmers, has welcomed the GMMF move even as it called for compulsory labelling of ice-creams that use synthetic variations of the ice-cream flavour.

The GMMF entered into an agreement late last year with Vanilco for sourcing natural vanillin extract from the latter with a view to shifting its vanilla flavour base to natural vanillin. The agreement was made possible through the intervention of the Union Agriculture Ministry, said Paul Jose, Vanilco chairman.

He said Vanilco had agreed to supply 20 tonnes of natural vanillin extract to the GMMF over the next three years. This is substantial help for vanilla farmers who have not seen better days since late 2003 when green vanilla beans fetched as much as Rs. 3,000 a kg.

Prices have since fallen. According to Spices Board figures, price of vanilla in January this year was Rs. 600 a kg of cured beans. The price was slightly higher in December 2007 at Rs. 825 a kg of cured beans. Export of vanilla from India stood at 125 tonnes valued at nearly Rs. 20 crore during 2006-07. This was a major improvement over the previous year when exports stood at 71 tonnes worth just over Rs. 12 crore. Between April-January 2007-08, export of vanilla stands at 185 tonnes worth over Rs. 16 crore.

Vanilco expects that the price of vanilla will stabilise over the coming months with the example of the ice-cream maker from the cooperative sector. Mr. Paul Jose said the makers of brands like Milma in Kerala were expected to follow suit.

Mr. Jose said vanilla production may not keep up with the expected demand in the immediate future as he pointed to the possibility of more ice-cream-makers shifting to natural vanillin.

For now, however, the supply situation looks good for Vanilco this year, as it has about 16 tonnes of cured beans in hand.

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