Virginia Dare, SOARARY Partner to Supply Vanilla Beans

BROOKLYN, N.Y.American flavor company Virginia Dare partnered with vanilla exporter SOARARY, which will provide the company with a supply chain for securing, curing and exporting vanilla beans from Madagascar.

With so much of the worlds vanilla production coming from a single country, local operations in Madagascar will help Virginia Dare ensure the availability, quality and consistency of its vanilla extracts and flavors during periods of market instability and supply shortages. 

Markets never stop evolving, and the vanilla market is no exception," said Howard Smith, Virginia Dare president, "Recent changes in the Malagasy vanilla supply chain make the decision to become more locally active there the right one for our company and our customers."

Madagascar represents approximately 80% of world vanilla production today, according to Rick Brownell, Virginia Dares vice president of vanilla products. He added that a more "vertically integrated" approach to vanilla sourcing will help the company respond to growing demands for traceability and sustainability.

Virginia Dare and Shanghai-based We-e Flavors also joined together recently to establish a new full-service flavor company based in Shanghai. The joint venture agreement was signed between the two companies on Dec. 31, 2012, and provides Virginia Dare with a successfully established turnkey operation in China.