Speculation? Meteorology? Theft? Poor cultural practices? Unstable supply? Increased demand? By end of March this year there was said to be a shortage of real vanilla, one of the world's most desirable #. Prices were being quoted at US$600 per kilogram compared with US$540 for a similar weight of silver.
Yet two months earlier, as the new year began, industry source Food Processing, was reporting price and supply were stabilizing. A year before, main supplier Madagascar had been hot by a serious cyclone. Experts predicted one-third of the island's vanilla crop was destroyed. Yet the impact was not so heavy, according to Aust & Hachmann, a Quebec vanilla bean broker. Nevertheless, warned Food Processing, 'this is a market that has been notoriously unstable.'