Virginia Dare Develops Sustainability Initiative

Virginia Dare, a New York-based flavor company, announced that — in conjunction with SOARARY, a family-owned and -operated vanilla exporter based in Madagascar’s vanilla-growing region — it created a dual strategy to improve the sustainability of Madagascar’s vanilla market.

The primary objective of this strategy, Virginia Dare said, is to enable farmers to properly cure their own green or raw vanilla so they can earn the extra revenue associated with this value-added activity. To make this possible, Virginia Dare and SOARARY gifted the materials and provided the necessary training to about 150 growers. By helping these farmers learn how to cure their own vanilla beans, Virginia Dare and SOARARY are ensuring that they will have access to the international market, where the farmers will be able to get higher prices for their product.

The second objective of this strategy is to improve food security for Madagascar’s vanilla-growing community. Through their partnership, Virginia Dare and SOARARY are working to guarantee participating farmers access to affordable rice during the annual shortage period. Access to affordable rice will allow these farmers to curtail their current practice of paying for otherwise unaffordable rice by pledging future vanilla production at prices below fair market value, Virginia Dare said.

“Hungry communities can’t focus on anything other than addressing their hunger,” said Henry Todd, Jr., a Virginia Dare vice president overseeing the initiative. “In alleviating this problem, we hope to increase community ability to focus on other longer-term investments such as commitment to education, creation of small business and the formation of small vanilla export cooperatives.”

Rick Brownell, vice president of vanilla products, Virginia Dare, told Private Label ⇨Store Brands that Virginia Dare’s efforts will help retailers better differentiate their store brand products from those of the competition.

“The retailer is competing for consumer dollars, and store brands must compete on more than just price alone,” he said. “Virginia Dare’s vanilla extracts and flavors connect with today’s consumers, who increasingly care about the farmers that grow the products they consume and the health of their families, communities and environment.”