“If you had been a canny investor back in 2008, you could have done a lot worse than make a substantial bet on upmarket ice cream futures. The price of vanilla beans has rocketed from as little as US$25 per kilo eight years ago up to US$240 at the end of 2016. Some forecasts predict it will reach as much as US$450 per kilo by the middle of 2017. Even by the standards of volatile prices in agricultural commodities such as rice and grains this is exceptional.
Unlike other price increases that were shortlived and the result of policy decisions, the price of vanilla beans is being driven by something else. In short, it is all down to us, the fickle consumer and our love of authentic cones, custard and crème brûlée…”
This is an excerpt from an article by the School’s Professor Iain Fraser, published in The Conversation on 27 February 2017. Click here to read the full article.
-ENDS-
Press coverage generated by this article:
Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/picky-consumers-vanilla-prices-spike-1000-percent-575253
SBS: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2017/02/28/choosy-consumers-drive-near-1000-spike-vanilla-prices
Descrier: http://descrier.co.uk/culture/food/posh-ice-cream-cakes-push-price-vanilla-1000/
Smithsonian: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bittersweet-story-vanilla-180962757/
The York ME Community: https://www.york-me-community.org/choosy-consumers-drive-a-near-1000-spike-in-vanilla-prices/