Madagascar may be a small island but it looms large in the world of vanilla, producing four-fifths of all the world’s vanilla harvest every year.
For people all over the world, vanilla triggers emotional connections and memories.
From the delicious indulgence of a favorite chocolate bar
to the scent of freshly
washed laundry,
the appeal of vanilla is universal.
“When I was living in Australia, ‘vanilla’ meant something standard: bland, neutral, classic, and not particularly exciting. Today, as Global Director Vanilla & Botanicals at Symrise, I know it’s the absolute contrary: complex in aroma, complex in business, emotive and evocative to all consumers.”
Vanilla is magic. For the farmer, this orchid is difficult to master – with unpredictable flowering cycles and a high sensitivity to disease and weather conditions. For the curer, transforming a scentless green bean into a black bean containing 400 molecules to produce an enchanting flavor without deviating into off-notes, is equally hard to master. For the extractor, using the right solvent and parameters to capture the essence of the aroma whilst optimizing its yield according to the type of bean is critical. For the flavorists, who use it to ‘lock’ the taste profile while obtaining different outputs according to concentration needs. And finally for the sales people, who master the technical aspects of a product that seem so simple on first appearance.
It is an essential tonality to all flavor houses, and so much at the heart of Symrise. First, it’s at the origin of the company 150 years ago, but also the lighthouse project for our sustainability commitment with our unique program in Madagascar making Symrise a top of mind vanilla player.
Vanilla lights up passion to all the ones who work with it. So yes, I can say it, Vanilla is indeed very exciting.
The invention of synthetic vanillin in 1874 by our founders was the start of everything for us. Over 150 years later, we’re still pioneers in vanilla and are as passionate about it as ever – it’s the undisputed Queen of Spices.
We’re working with over 7,000 farmers across the SAVA region of Madagascar, sustainably sourcing our vanilla and ensuring that it’s traceable and of premium quality – year after year.
Madagascar may be a small island but it looms large in the world of vanilla, producing four-fifths of all the world’s vanilla harvest every year.
600 blossoms need to be pollinated by hand to produce 6 kg of green beans
Around 6kg of green vanilla beans are needed to produce 1kg of black beans
From 1kg of black beans, we produce 10 liters of concentrated vanilla extract
Creating shared value
In 2006, we became the first flavor and scent company to have its own operations in Madagascar. From the outset we were committed to working with the local farmers and their communities to establish a supply chain that created shared value for everyone involved.
We have direct partnerships with 7,000 farmers
Over 30,000 people benefit directly or indirectly from Symrise’s activities
Since 2018, we’ve distributed over 452,000 seeds and trees for reforestation
Crafting the perfect vanilla extract is all about balance. Our expert extractors combine specialist insight with their passion for vanilla. The result? Tailor-made extracts matching the desires of our customers.
A taste for perfection
How do you craft precise extracts and flavors from natural, unpredictable vanilla beans? The answer is to call in the bean professors.
Scenting success
Creating scents that meet a customer’s brief takes more than an expert nose. Our perfumers balance their creativity with their chemical knowledge, drawing on the skills and experience of a range of teams to produce the best possible products.
Finding a way to combine insight with inspiration is essential to meeting the present and future needs of our customers. But for us, the complexity of consumer preference is just another source of inspiration.
“In order to deliver the winning vanilla solutions that consumers want, we first need to understand what consumers are looking for", says Franziska Koch, Global Marketing Manager, Food & Beverage. "What is driving their purchasing decisions? What evolving trends are emerging in the food & beverage industry? Running trend studies and gathering global insights across the world enables us to understand what is happening in the market. It is all about understanding the needs first – and then building on them to create both relevant and inspiring vanilla solutions for the market.”
Identifying what consumers want, often before they even know they want it, is all part of the job for Kristina Nowak, Marketing Group Manager for Scent Homecare across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “When it comes to scent everything we do is aimed at a specific market – for a specific end user,” she explains. “From evaluating new products to mapping new trends, we are always working to identify new opportunities to delight both our customers and their consumers.”
40 years ago, a perfumer at Haarmann & Reimer, one of our predecessor companies, saw a need to categorize all the fine fragrances on the market. This became our fragrance genealogy – an entirely new concept for the industry. Today it’s still unique, and we produce different versions covering masculine and feminine fragrances, as well as functional products like laundry detergents. Every year a team tests and assesses new additions to each genealogy, adding descriptors and marking key information. In this way, we can easily identify where opportunities exist for creating new fragrances or products.
The next big foodie trend could be just around the corner. But knowing which corner, and where it is in the world, means you need to combine local insight with global coverage. Chefs United® is our way of doing just that. Made up of more than 31,000 chefs across the globe, the network covers every angle of the culinary world, from Michelin-starred restaurants to street food stalls. The chefs are brought together under the experienced award-wining chef Gianfranco Chiarini, a culinary giant and the founder of this vital Symrise brand.
A perfect summer’s day, a favorite holiday, your mother’s cooking; one lick of vanilla ice cream, the scent of fresh laundry or a spoonful of rich custard can evoke memories. Taste and scent is personal: that’s why creating the flavors and aromas people love, today and in the future, is so important.
We’ve been pioneers in the world of vanilla for decades, ever since we were the first to synthesize vanilla over 150 years ago. Our passion for this incredible spice is as strong as ever and we know there is always more work to do, more to learn and something new just around the corner that will delight customers and consumers.
Download your Vanilla introduction paper here.
