INGREDIENTS

cacao and cacao butter 53 %, sugar, milk, vanilla, sunflower lecithin

Heinde & Verre means “near and far”. The locally sourced Vanilla and Dutch beet sugar allows the Grenada cacao to be fully appreciated.

ABOUT VANILLA

Contrary to what the popular expression “plain vanilla” suggests, there is actually nothing simple or ordinary about it. Vanilla takes a long time to grow, needs specific care and is quite expensive!

Vanilla is a tropical vine orchid native to South America. The plant takes 3 to 4 years to mature, with a one day window in which to pollinate every flower by hand. Then a 9 month wait for beans to grow, harvest the crop and then another 2 to 3 months to ferment the vanilla pods. Hard work for farmers.

The price of vanilla is high due to the surge in demand driven by the switch from synthetic to natural vanilla, poor weather conditions and the crime surrounding vanilla. Vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world after saffran.

80 to 85% of vanilla comes from Madagascar and is tainted by money laundering, theft, violence, bribery and corruption. According to Reuters, in 2019 over 10% of the harvest was pilfered and is expected to increase every year. There are many documented cases of small farmers in dispair. This leads to early harvests in the season even before the vanilla pods are ripe enough just to avoid theft. The result is lower quality vanilla beans on the market. The high demand for natural vanilla increased deforestation on Madagascar as more and more famers try to “cash-in” on this valuable crop. Needless to say, this has a big impact on the delicate ecosystem on the island.

Dutch Vanilla can be part of the solution. Local vanilla can be grown sustainable in geothermal heated greenhouses. When vanilla is grown and fermented under ideal and fully controlled conditions the quality of the flavour will be exquisite, deep and lingering. With a fully transparent supply chain, Dutch vanilla is fully traceably and does not need to be transported over long distances.