During the 2020 pandemic my job in the Essential Oil Sourcing Industry became difficult and highlighted some of the challenges with trying to get large quantities of natural products from other countries. During my research I found out that the Vanilla Industry has had its share of complications (even prior to 2020) and has driven up the price in a market that wants to go "all natural" and sustainable, making vanilla very hard to source. This highly sought after flavoring has become rare and extremely expensive. This led me to a conversation with a professor at the University of Florida with whom has been researching and working with Vanilla plantifolia in Florida for many years. Thru research and plant selection he has accomplished a very productive and highly prolific Vanilla Plantifolia that is been growing successfully in Southern Florida. I decided this was a good opportunity to bring a new domestic commodity and opportunity to Florida growers. This is not an opportunity isolated to Florida, growing in other tropical regions or climate controlled environments are possible. We just believe that growing in a tropical climate with an existing native bee to pollinate, makes for an easy growing opportunity.
I moved forward and begin the propagation of his Vanilla thru cell cultures in a laboratory and am offering this opportunity to other farmers. Thru this process I have learned a lot on how this very efficient type of propagation works and the benefits of doing this. The lab my Vanilla plants are growing in has imported a lot of its equipment and knowledge from the commercial growing industry in Holland. For example, viruses are common in orchids and can wipe out an entire crop. Our plants being propagated in a sterile lab are screened for viruses prior to growing and where we can select the strongest plant to further grow. They will be guaranteed virus free when ready to ship. They then will move to greenhouses that are temperature controlled and where they cool, heat and water with recycled rain water. All a very sustainable process. My "mother" plant (original cuttings) are then being stored in a lab to hold and further propagate as needed, where they are currently researching cryogenics for long term storage capabilities. This process is truly amazing! I have enjoyed learning so much and envision incredible opportunities for farmers interested in expanding on their current farms or new farmers looking for a new niche commodity. We are the pioneers and trailblazers of bringing this new industry to Florida.
