2016’s demand for vanilla has thusfar continued unabated without a slip…with prices clearing $400 a kg.

The upcoming Christmas Holidays look to soar it skywards past $500, whereas in the early part of 2017 it should ride steady up in the highest level in decades, up until the next harvest when the first correction is possible.

In the meantime, Mada still counts as 80+ % of the world’s supply, and with some customers walk out on the prices, others from the gourmet markets in the emerging economies are rapidly being added and demand has actually grown for every seller this year.

In the past few months commentators made bitter scolds on sellers that the current prices are unsustainable. That may be a long term truth, but in the short term, almost every vanilla company is enjoying record revenues this year. That doesn’t always mean better profit margins, as farmers are a primary agent in taking this value and percent of the sale price, but it does mean that vanilla has captivated the entire world as not just a product of privilege like bourbon beans have been to upmarket bakers and buyers in the past, but now a product of prestige.