Vanilla

Table of Contents

Vanilla is grown predominantly by small-holder producers; approximately 80 percent of vanilla producers are small-holder farmers.¹ Traceability systems should facilitate participation for this large population of producers who may have less administrative, technical, and financial capacity. As livelihoods and income are key issues for small producers, any traceability initiative should provide a financial benefit for participating producers and any hired workers.
Because of the presence of many small-scale producers, cooperatives can provide an important infrastructure for supply chain traceability and other sustainability programs. They can provide companies with a means to gain visibility into the lower tiers of the supply chain, as well as a means to support implementation of monitoring and remediation programming. Supply chain mapping can help to identify whether producers are organized into cooperatives as a first step to designing subsequent traceability systems suited to the structure and capacity of supply chain actors.
Vanilla grown by different producers and producer organizations may be mixed at multiple levels of the supply chain, particularly when it is sold through middlemen. This mixing makes it difficult to trace vanilla back to the individual farm level, where most of the supply chain risks originate, so product tracking methods that permit mixing of goods such as bulk commodity or mass balance may be more feasible.

Child Labor cited by U.S. Government

Risk of Child Labor cited by other source

Forced Labor or Trafficking in Persons cited by U.S. Government

Risk of Forced Labor or Trafficking in Persons cited by other source

Documented presence of migrant workers

Documented presence of other vulnerable workers

Documented presence or significant likelihood of third-party labor recruiters

The U.S. Department of Labor has noted the presence of child labor in the production of vanilla in Madagascar and Uganda.²
Other sources have noted the presence of child laborers in the vanilla industry, most notably in Madagascar where child labor is prevalent in informal small-holder supply chains.³ Small-holders have reported needing supplementary labor such as child labor to complete the work, particularly in labor-intensive tasks.⁴

Large numbers of dispersed, unorganized, or informal small producers or other worksites

Multiple points of aggregation, co-mingling, and/or transformation across supply chain

Complex/opaque supply chains and/or lack of vertical integration

High degree of flexibility in procurement practices of downstream entities

There are more smallholder farmers in the Madagascan vanilla industry than large-scale producers. According to the International Labour Organization, 80 percent of Madagascan vanilla is produced in the north-eastern Sava region of the country; in 2016, there were 80,000 smallholder farms employed in this area.⁵
The vanilla pods harvested on farms and plantations go through multiple points of transformation in order to extract the flavor for use in fragrances, food, and beverages. Post-harvest, the green vanilla pods undergo a long and complex preparation process to develop the aroma and flavor, which determines its quality and price.⁶
The presence of middlemen in vanilla supply chains, commonly known as collectors, who purchase the vanilla from farmers and sell it to Tier one exporters increases the opacity of the supply chain.⁷ These middlemen may also be unregistered,⁸ making it difficult to gain visibility into their transactions and practices.
There is a high degree of flexibility in the procurement practices in the Madagascan vanilla supply chain due to the large number of small vanilla producers and the absence of legally binding contracts.⁹ While some large producers sell directly to tier one exporters, the majority sell through their producer associations.¹⁰ Smallholder producer associations often sell to middlemen, who play an important role in traceability, quality control, and transportation.¹¹ There is no exclusive agreement between the smallholder producers and the tier one supplier companies.¹²

Scale or nature of risk varies significantly based on geographic area of production

Scale or nature of risk is strongly associated with certain types of suppliers/entities

Scale or nature of risk is present across multiple tiers or nodes of supply chain (including in associated downstream or upstream goods)

It is estimated that 80 percent of the global vanilla production comes from North-West Madagascar.¹³ In this region, many of the smallholder farmers live very remotely, making monitoring more difficult. Child labor in the vanilla production chain is only recorded in Madagascar and Uganda.¹⁴ Considering approximately 80 percent of the world’s vanilla is produced in rural North-West Madagascar, the risk of child labour is very specific to its geographical location.
The nature of vanilla production in Madagascar is dominated by smallholder production farms that are often family run and dependent on labor from their own family and local community.¹⁵ The lack of understanding and enforcement of child labor regulations on these small and local farms renders these types of production entities as strongly associated with the risk of child labor.¹⁶
The risk of child labor in the Madagascan vanilla supply chain is concentrated at the production level. Many of the preparatory vanilla production steps, including the drying that prepares the vanilla for use at the fragrance or consumption production stage, take place on the farms themselves.¹⁷

Multiple stages of vanilla production take place at the site of production with both smallholder and plantation producers. At the producer level, the vanilla goes through the crop cycle (pod elimination, harvesting, and hand pollinating) and then the vanilla curing process where the crop is dried out through multiple stages (heating, steaming, drying, and sorting), causing the aroma and flavour to develop. Vanilla is sold to suppliers via “collectors,” who are the middlemen that buy the beans from the producers.¹⁸ Middlemen can be registered or unregistered.¹⁹ The pre-prepared vanilla is then sold to exporters or directly to companies for use in flavorings.²⁰

Cultivation and harvesting

Curing

Transport

Wholesale and retail

Food and Beverage

Large volumes of vanilla are used in the production of flavorings for food and beverage items. Some vanilla is sold directly into the food and beverage industry for use as whole beans.

Cosmetics and Personal Care

Large amounts of vanilla are also used in the production of fragrances for cosmetics and household items.

Madagascar²²
Indonesia
Mexico
Papua New Guinea
China
Turkey
Tonga
Uganda
French Polynesia
Comoros

Fairtrade International (Segregated/Bulk Commodity) Rainforest Alliance (Identity Preservation)Rainforest Alliance (Segregated/Bulk Commodity)Vanilla product tracking pilot with blockchain

1
Steavenson, Wendell. “Vanilla Boom Is Making People Crazy Rich — And Jittery — In Madagascar.” NPR, 15 September 2019, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/09/15/757899271/photos-vanilla-boom-is-making-people-crazy-rich-and-jittery-in-madagascar.
2
List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 28 September 2022, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2021/2022-TVPRA-List-of-Goods-v3.pdf.
3
A Tale of Two Supply Chains: Child Labor in the Vanilla Sector in Madagascar. Fair Labor Association, June 2021, www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/madagascar_vanillareport_final3.pdf.
4
A Tale of Two Supply Chains: Child Labor in the Vanilla Sector in Madagascar, Fair Labor Association, June 2021, www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/madagascar_vanillareport_final3.pdf.
5
Hjerl Hansen, Julie; Lykke Lind, Peter; et al. “The Hidden Cost of Vanilla: Child Labour and Debt Spirals.” Danwatch, 8^th December 2016, www.danwatch.dk/en/undersogelse/thehiddencostofvanilla/.
6
How to Use Vanilla: Difference Between Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Beans, and Vanilla Pods, MasterClass, 10^th August 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-use-vanilla-difference-between-vanilla-extract-vanilla-beans-and-vanilla-pods#what-is-a-vanilla-bean.
7
A Tale of Two Supply Chains: Child Labor in the Vanilla Sector in Madagascar, Fair Labor Association, June 2021, www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/madagascar_vanillareport_final3.pdf.
8
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
9
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
10
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
11
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
12
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
13
Transforming the vanilla supply chain in Madagascar, Danone, 7^th September 2017, medium.com/@Danone/transforming-the-vanilla-supply-chain-in-madagascar-99e98dcabe5f.
14
List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 23 June 2021, www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods?tid=All&field_exp_good_target_id=5746&field_exp_exploitation_type_target_id_1=All&items_per_page=10.
15
A Tale of Two Supply Chains: Child Labor in the Vanilla Sector in Madagascar, Fair Labor Association, June 2021, www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/madagascar_vanillareport_final3.pdf.
16
A Tale of Two Supply Chains: Child Labor in the Vanilla Sector in Madagascar, Fair Labor Association, June 2021, www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/madagascar_vanillareport_final3.pdf.
17
A Tale of Two Supply Chains: Child Labor in the Vanilla Sector in Madagascar, Fair Labor Association, June 2021, www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/madagascar_vanillareport_final3.pdf.
18
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
19
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
20
Boxy, Marthinus et al. “Building Framework of Supply Chain Vanilla Commodity in Indonesia: Approach with SCOR 12.0.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business (ICMEB 2019), Atlantis Press, 2019, www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icmeb-19/125934123.
21
List of exporters for the selected product in 2021. Product: 0905 Vanilla. ITC Trade Map, www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c0905%7c%7c%7c4%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1.
22
Crops and Livestock Products. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL.

Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL‐35805. 100 percent of the total costs of the project or program is financed with federal funds, for a total of USD 4,000,000. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government

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Supply Chain Characteristics that Impact Traceability

Traceability Takeaways

Nature of Labor Rights Risk/Vulnerable Workers

Features of Production and Supply Chain

Distribution of Labor Risk in Various Production Areas

Linked Upstream and Downstream Risks

Risk in Nodes in Vanilla Production

Associated Downstream Goods and Consumer Sectors

Top Global Countries

Examples & Resources: Traceability Efforts Associated With Vanilla

Footnotes