7 ms·

And it's even grown only in 2 very specific regions in the north of the island (where most of the cocoa production also come from). There's still huge opportuni

by AKifer 8y ago

And it's even grown only in 2 very specific regions in the north of the island (where most of the cocoa production also come from). There's still huge opportunities if you have enough money and appetite for adventure to start a trading or setting up a plantation. 1ha yields on average 300-400 kg of dried vanilla, a process that takes on average 6-8 months from manual pollination to end of drying. Madagascar is quite strict on land property though, and it's one of the hot topics on the political landscape right now, foreign investors most of the time work with trusted local proxy to set up the business. I myself plan to trip to the vanilla producing region in the following months to see how it works, would be so cool to run a vanilla startup. One more thing, vanilla extract and vanilla caviar are even more valuable than the dried vanilla, and still at the hands of very few businesses. P.S. I live in Madagascar

matthewwiese 8y ago
A "vanilla startup" is perhaps one of the most interesting ideas I've read in HN comments these past few weeks. If I may ask, are you from Madagascar or an expat? This is all quite new information to me so I am fascinated to learn more. Are there any sources you would recommend?
- 0xcafecafe 8y ago
  One a side note, I thought of a joke where his "vanilla startup" would be far from a "vanilla" startup. And that got me curious as to why the adjective vanilla refers to anything plain. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanilla https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanilla "For lexicographers, vanilla has more flavor than chocolate, because it adds a tasty synonym for plain to the English menu. The noun vanilla was first served up in 1662, but it took almost 200 years for its adjective use to become established for things, like ice and sugar, flavored with vanilla. By the 1970s vanilla was perceived as being the plain flavor of the ice-cream world, and people began using the word itself to describe anything plain, ordinary, or conventional."
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - quadrangle 8y ago
    FWIW, I think it's fair to push back on bad use of language even as I'm not prescriptive in general. Using "vanilla" to mean "plain" is just wrong and bad. It's possible to make plain, unflavored ice-cream. Vanilla is obviously a real flavor.
    - ams6110 8y ago
      I think that ship has sailed, since the meaning has been in use for almost 50 years now. As someone who can't stand the use of "they" as a singular pronoun, I also understand fights against the evolution of language are battles that I won't win.
      - thechao 8y ago
        “They” as a singular, gender neutral, pronoun dates back to the 14th c. Practically every word you use postdates its use that way. The use of “literally” to mean “figuratively” is nearly as old.
        filleduchaos 8y ago
        And I'm willing to bet they use the singular they quite often without even realizing it
        somecontext 8y ago
        In case anyone was curious, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/literally https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/literally states R"(This type of usage is common in informal speech ("she was literally in floods of tears") and is attested since 1769.)"
        Dylan16807 8y ago
        > The use of “literally” to mean “figuratively” is nearly as old. Please please don't say that. It is not being used to mean that. It is being used in a figurative way to mean "very". This is an ironic but relatively minor shift. It's in no danger of becoming its own opposite.
- thx11389793 8y ago
  OT, but why are immigrants called expats when they're from anglophone nations?
  - jwilliams 8y ago
    In my experience, people have come to use expat to describe someone who is temporarily or provisionally living elsewhere (e.g. Gone to London to work for a few years). Immigrant is often used for people who have moved with a permanent intention.
    - davidp 8y ago
      Agreed. An expat is someone "on assignment", who has and expects strong ties with their home country. People who fit this description tend to frequently seek help from their own consulates, for example. It's particularly relevant for Americans because we tax ourselves even when overseas. An emigrant (as seen from the source country) or immigrant (as seen from the destination country) is someone who has (usually permanently) moved and now expects primary services and sovereignty from their new home country. I highly doubt that the distinction is strictly an anglophone concept, although perhaps it's related that they sound similar and have similar roots.
      - usrusr 8y ago
        That's the difference, and it is inevitably an international one (e.g. we happily adopted the English term "expat" here in Germany) because it only exists across borders. But the difference gets muddied a lot because one is associated with much higher status than the other and everybody will naturally try for the higher status label if there is the remote chance of getting away with it. Higher status? "People who hang out with diplomats", try beating that. If you routinely dine at your embassy you'd sure be considered "expat" even if you are from Afghanistan. Of course only a tiny fraction of expats would actually do this, but it illustrates the idea. A more practical line of distinction: would they seems their children to regular local schools? If they insist on private "international schools", then it's "expat", otherwise only if a return date is known.
  - 8y ago
- planteen 8y ago
  Most wouldn't consider starting a farm or a ranch a "startup" in the usual sense. There are many people starting farms every year the US. Things are very different compared to a tech startup, with much higher capital costs (land, rent, equipment). There are special USDA loans available: https://newfarmers.usda.gov https://newfarmers.usda.gov
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- AKifer 8y ago
  @matthewwiese I'm native of Madagascar. In fact a lot of french "expats" and madagascan living abroad are setting up small trading/exportation operations for the french/european market, only a few hundreds kilograms per year is enough to sustain an equivalent of a US upper class revenue. Wikipedia offers a good overview of the thing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla
- quickthrower2 8y ago
  Here is your problem: > The reason that Madagascar is still on top of the vanilla game is grim: According to The Financial Times, it’s one of the few regions with the right climate that is also poor enough to make laborious hand-pollination affordable. While other countries, such as India, have dabbled in heavy vanilla production, huge swings in the international price make it a dangerous crop to grow widely I'd find this unethical. Even if that's not a problem, automation/technology will bite you eventually, and this stuff will be grown around the world, reducing the price.
pstuart 8y ago
Hawaii has a producer: http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/ http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/
bambax 8y ago
But if the secret is hand pollination, it doesn’t have to be in Madagascar? Couldn’t it be done anywhere where the weather’s right, or indeed anywhere indoors?
mc32 8y ago
Apparently Indonesia produces slightly more Vanilla than Madagascar --but maybe the political situation where the beans are grown is not conducive to foreign investment.
jmd1 8y ago
Ive known friends in the South Indian state of Kerala (where the climate is very suited for vanilla cultivation) whose families are struggling to raise Vanilla as an intercrop in their existing plantations due to labour shortfall. As the article states, the main ingredient required here is cheap manual labour without which this venture is doomed to fail.
jvagner 8y ago
I wonder if you could grow vanilla hydroponically here in Nevada, where.. ya know, we probably have a lot of hydroponics experienced growers.
amini2nt 8y ago
Hey I am working at MILA lab, and very interested in seeing how we can optimize or automate the pollineation process, would you be interested in getting in touch? Message me on Facebook to Mamal Amini if you are.

by AKifer 8y ago

matthewwiese 8y ago

A "vanilla startup" is perhaps one of the most interesting ideas I've read in HN comments these past few weeks. If I may ask, are you from Madagascar or an expat? This is all quite new information to me so I am fascinated to learn more. Are there any sources you would recommend?

0xcafecafe 8y ago
One a side note, I thought of a joke where his "vanilla startup" would be far from a "vanilla" startup. And that got me curious as to why the adjective vanilla refers to anything plain. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanilla https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanilla "For lexicographers, vanilla has more flavor than chocolate, because it adds a tasty synonym for plain to the English menu. The noun vanilla was first served up in 1662, but it took almost 200 years for its adjective use to become established for things, like ice and sugar, flavored with vanilla. By the 1970s vanilla was perceived as being the plain flavor of the ice-cream world, and people began using the word itself to describe anything plain, ordinary, or conventional."
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- quadrangle 8y ago
  FWIW, I think it's fair to push back on bad use of language even as I'm not prescriptive in general. Using "vanilla" to mean "plain" is just wrong and bad. It's possible to make plain, unflavored ice-cream. Vanilla is obviously a real flavor.
  - ams6110 8y ago
    I think that ship has sailed, since the meaning has been in use for almost 50 years now. As someone who can't stand the use of "they" as a singular pronoun, I also understand fights against the evolution of language are battles that I won't win.
    - thechao 8y ago
      “They” as a singular, gender neutral, pronoun dates back to the 14th c. Practically every word you use postdates its use that way. The use of “literally” to mean “figuratively” is nearly as old.
      - filleduchaos 8y ago
        And I'm willing to bet they use the singular they quite often without even realizing it
      - somecontext 8y ago
        In case anyone was curious, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/literally https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/literally states R"(This type of usage is common in informal speech ("she was literally in floods of tears") and is attested since 1769.)"
      - Dylan16807 8y ago
        > The use of “literally” to mean “figuratively” is nearly as old. Please please don't say that. It is not being used to mean that. It is being used in a figurative way to mean "very". This is an ironic but relatively minor shift. It's in no danger of becoming its own opposite.
thx11389793 8y ago
OT, but why are immigrants called expats when they're from anglophone nations?
- jwilliams 8y ago
  In my experience, people have come to use expat to describe someone who is temporarily or provisionally living elsewhere (e.g. Gone to London to work for a few years). Immigrant is often used for people who have moved with a permanent intention.
  - davidp 8y ago
    Agreed. An expat is someone "on assignment", who has and expects strong ties with their home country. People who fit this description tend to frequently seek help from their own consulates, for example. It's particularly relevant for Americans because we tax ourselves even when overseas. An emigrant (as seen from the source country) or immigrant (as seen from the destination country) is someone who has (usually permanently) moved and now expects primary services and sovereignty from their new home country. I highly doubt that the distinction is strictly an anglophone concept, although perhaps it's related that they sound similar and have similar roots.
    - usrusr 8y ago
      That's the difference, and it is inevitably an international one (e.g. we happily adopted the English term "expat" here in Germany) because it only exists across borders. But the difference gets muddied a lot because one is associated with much higher status than the other and everybody will naturally try for the higher status label if there is the remote chance of getting away with it. Higher status? "People who hang out with diplomats", try beating that. If you routinely dine at your embassy you'd sure be considered "expat" even if you are from Afghanistan. Of course only a tiny fraction of expats would actually do this, but it illustrates the idea. A more practical line of distinction: would they seems their children to regular local schools? If they insist on private "international schools", then it's "expat", otherwise only if a return date is known.
- 8y ago
planteen 8y ago
Most wouldn't consider starting a farm or a ranch a "startup" in the usual sense. There are many people starting farms every year the US. Things are very different compared to a tech startup, with much higher capital costs (land, rent, equipment). There are special USDA loans available: https://newfarmers.usda.gov https://newfarmers.usda.gov
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
AKifer 8y ago
@matthewwiese I'm native of Madagascar. In fact a lot of french "expats" and madagascan living abroad are setting up small trading/exportation operations for the french/european market, only a few hundreds kilograms per year is enough to sustain an equivalent of a US upper class revenue. Wikipedia offers a good overview of the thing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla
quickthrower2 8y ago
Here is your problem: > The reason that Madagascar is still on top of the vanilla game is grim: According to The Financial Times, it’s one of the few regions with the right climate that is also poor enough to make laborious hand-pollination affordable. While other countries, such as India, have dabbled in heavy vanilla production, huge swings in the international price make it a dangerous crop to grow widely I'd find this unethical. Even if that's not a problem, automation/technology will bite you eventually, and this stuff will be grown around the world, reducing the price.

pstuart 8y ago

Hawaii has a producer: http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/ http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/

bambax 8y ago

But if the secret is hand pollination, it doesn’t have to be in Madagascar? Couldn’t it be done anywhere where the weather’s right, or indeed anywhere indoors?

mc32 8y ago

Apparently Indonesia produces slightly more Vanilla than Madagascar --but maybe the political situation where the beans are grown is not conducive to foreign investment.

jmd1 8y ago

Ive known friends in the South Indian state of Kerala (where the climate is very suited for vanilla cultivation) whose families are struggling to raise Vanilla as an intercrop in their existing plantations due to labour shortfall. As the article states, the main ingredient required here is cheap manual labour without which this venture is doomed to fail.

jvagner 8y ago

I wonder if you could grow vanilla hydroponically here in Nevada, where.. ya know, we probably have a lot of hydroponics experienced growers.

amini2nt 8y ago

Hey I am working at MILA lab, and very interested in seeing how we can optimize or automate the pollineation process, would you be interested in getting in touch? Message me on Facebook to Mamal Amini if you are.