Tuesday, May 2, 2017

So, How Will You Deal With The Great Vanilla Shortage of '17?

I see other outlets are getting around to this right now but the FT's Emiko Terazono was on it a week ago.
From The Financial Times, April 24, 2017: 

Vanilla price reaches record high after Madagascar cyclone
Price of pods used in ice cream soars as top producer grapples with damage
The price of vanilla has soared to a record high as Madagascar, the world’s top producer of vanilla beans, grapples with damage wrought by a cyclone. Used in ice cream, chocolate and perfume, vanilla pods are trading at an all-time high of $600 a kilogramme, according to Craig Nielsen of US vanilla and flavourings group Nielsen Massey. 
Prices for vanilla, which is not traded on an exchange, had already surged over the past year thanks to speculative hoarding and rising demand as more consumers shun artificial flavourings and ingredients. The price climbed from about $100 a kg in 2015 to $450-$500 at the start of this year. 

“Inventories were already depleted, and now we have the damage caused by the cyclone,” said Mr Nielsen. “It will be a tough time [for the vanilla market] for the next couple of years.”...MUCH MORE
https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/http%3A%2F%2Fcom.ft.imagepublish.prod-us.s3.amazonaws.com%2F78965bee-28f4-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7?source=next&fit=scale-down&width=601

Speaking of Emiko-on-the-spot, this crossed within the last hour
Wheat jumps as US snowstorm damages crops  
Amazing what a May snowstorm does to price: