A farewell to vacuum packing as of new legislation in Madagascar…wax paper price has now gone up too at the shops and ports.

Export licenses have gone down in price to $3000 per year in Mada to bust some trusts up…
All in all, good news for quality.

This time last year most traders and self-styled “experts” concluded that vanilla prices would never reach $500 and would crash due to speculation and lag in demand.

November 2016 the biggest exporters had held a meeting to make the price plan of pushing it over $500. Guess who won and ended up correct…

Now most quality beans have sold with ease the first week of May north of $600,000 a ton and $700 per kg for lesser orders.

May 15 the new season opened and 2017 beans are on the way.

In general, most vanilla sellers, collectors and major exporters included, will again wait until November or even February to sell the majority of their stock. Beans are available for August on in reality on a rolling basis of maturity, but peak prices hit around holidays in USA and around February for worldwide. This is when disinformed importers also choose to buy the most, perpetuating their own expensive situations.

Strap on for another rollercoaster ride – beans are clearing orbit. $750??

MVC “procured-&-cured” beans this time 3 years ago were $40, and that is with premium prices for overpaid farmers. 2 years ago, still less than $100

2 years yield: 8000% ROI.

Investments in the commodities trading community that are index spreads or low risk-low yield used to be called “vanilla funds” for their banality and boredom.

Now perhaps vanilla is the most single profitable investment on earth the past 2 years (it has to be sold and used before expiry)…perhaps some renaming is in order.