We offer our Whole Bean Vanilla every day at our scoop shops - but it’s not ‘just’ Vanilla. We use whole vanilla beans in every batch. They are organically grown in Papua New Guinea and sourced from Singing Dog Vanilla. Each custardy scoop is full of complex flavor and earns its golden tone from the local milk, cream, and eggs. Since vanilla so often gets an undeserved rep as “boring” or “plain” we wanted to tell you a bit more about how amazing this agricultural outlier really is!

Vanilla is the ONLY edible fruit of the orchid family. Originally cultivated in Pre-Columbian Mexico where it was pollinated by bees, most vanilla is now grown in a handful of tropical climates where it must be hand pollinated and cured through a long meticulous process. From planting to final product, it takes three years to bring a vanilla pod to market. Perhaps this lengthy process and the bean’s unique origin contribute to its complex flavor. Vanilla has over 250 flavor and aroma compounds which vary depending on its species and soil.

Did you know that 80% of the world's vanilla comes from Madagascar? Events in Madagascar such as extreme weather caused by Climate Change and vanilla bean theft, coupled with increased global demand has driven the price of vanilla to where it is more expensive per pound than silver.

We choose to source our vanilla from Singing Dog, who work with farmers in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia because they work directly with farmers and invest in sustained economic stability. The massive rise of vanilla bean prices over the past few years means that farmers throughout the world are finally able to demand a reasonable price for their crop. In some of the largest vanilla growing regions, this means that farm workers are finally being lifted from an extremely economically oppressive system (which is putting it lightly). Singing Dog has always exceeded the expectations of a Fair Trade company. We wanted to share a few of the problems faced by farmers and solutions provided by Singing Dog (from their website):

Farmers were often at the mercy of whatever prices they can get on the day they travel to town to sell their small crop.
If the buyer in town that day was buying only short beans for making the extract, but the farmer had only Chef Quality vanilla in hand, then they were out of luck for the day. It is difficult to plan the length of bean to grow when they cannot predict what a buyer will be looking for nearly a year after pollination.
Poor cash flow. Vanilla crops are generally harvested only once per year and therefore only sold once a year. Many farmers will hold on to the cured vanilla beans and sell them only when they need cash. This also makes it difficult for us to buy and ship the vanilla beans to the USA efficiently. We need to buy all of their vanilla at once.
Sometimes a farmer may be in need of immediate cash and will pick his product too early so as to get it to market. This causes a poor quality vanilla bean with little flavor.
Often fair trade organizations will only work with farmer’s cooperatives. Many family farms cannot afford the annual membership fees required by large certifying Fair Trade agencies. Fair Trade Plus+ allows smaller family farms and village farms to access developed world markets and higher revenues.
Since profits are shared with the farmers, both producers and buyers interests are aligned. There is no need to pay fees to a 3rd party to verify compliance.

We’re proud to work with a company that values the long term prosperity and stability of the farmers who grow the vanilla. Back in 2017 when vanilla prices ballooned, we were surprised but not disheartened. We knew that the additional cost was reflective of the hard work and risks taken by the growers. Furthermore, the vanilla from Singing Dog is of such high quality that just a few plump pods provide ample flavor to gallons upon gallons of ice cream. We’ll continue to scoop this flavor all year - every season - at both scoop shops. Whether you have it on a cone, in an ice cream sandwich, or with a whole bunch of toppings it will always be there for us. Vanilla FOREVER!

Vanilla... Forever!