Vanilla Vida CEO talks leveraging data-driven greenhouses for higher vanilla yields

08 Feb 2024 --- Vanilla Vida is championing the use of smart greenhouses to produce vanilla with more beneficial compounds, higher yields and shortened growth times, while sheltering these crops from erratic weather conditions. Food Ingredients First sits down with Oren Zilberman, co-founder and CEO of Vanilla Vida, to expand on smart solutions addressing the vanilla sector’s challenges.

“The real disruption that will ensure the stability of the vanilla industry must start from the agricultural perspective,” comments Zilberman. “We believe that the only way to stabilize both vanilla supply and prices is to harness the power of technology to optimize the work of experienced farmers who will focus and specialize in the field of vanilla.”

“According to our proof of concept, growing in greenhouses significantly increases the number of pods on the plant, shortens the time from planting to yield, significantly reduces the chance of diseases in the plant and yields vanilla pods that are rich in glucovanillin,” he continues.

The lack of stability prevents companies from switching from synthetic vanilla to natural vanilla, says Zilberman (Image credit: Hannan Bar Assulin).The method affects the quality of the final raw material by yielding a high vanillin content, the price at which it is sold and the demand.

Instability and volatile prices
Zilberman flags that core challenges of the vanilla supply chain lie in traditional growth areas being located next to the courtroom line — in areas that suffer from harsh weather and risk the stability of the vanilla supply.

“While 70% of the world’s vanilla crops are grown in Madagascar, one cyclone in this very unstable weather area is violating the entire market,” he stresses.

It is not just that the prices are volatile, the “lack of stability” prevents companies from switching from using synthetic vanilla to natural vanilla — stemming from a lack of guarantee of the availability of the raw material over time and therefore, avoids the change.

He also points to the unstable quality of the vanilla beans as another significant challenge the vanilla industry is battling. “This is reflected in a low and infrequent vanillin percentage, which usually stands at only 1.5%.”

Holistic approach to vanilla farming
To tackle these hurdles, Vanilla Vida controls the entire vanilla production chain from growing to curing. 

“This holistic approach leads the company to improve efficiency and improvement of processes throughout the entire value chain. The company reached vanillin levels of 4% in commercial quantities only by implementing its in-door data-driven curing approach on traditionally grown beans.”

Vanilla Vida controls the entire vanilla value chain from growing to curing (Image credit: Assaf Karela).Analyzing vast amounts of data and building data-driven work protocols ensures product consistency and quick error detection along with data-based solutions.

“In the field of processing, we focus on improving operational efficiency, using data as a tool for the accuracy of our curing protocols in order to ensure high vanillin stability and a unique, long-lasting aroma,” he explains.

The curing process involves a fully-automated, data-driven curing facility where vanilla is dried to achieve the “most concentrated version of vanilla bean.”

Greening up vanilla
To bolster vanilla yields, Vanilla Vida is leveraging precision agriculture — developing first-of-its-kind vanilla growing protocols and agrotechnical methods in “climate-controlled greenhouses,” Zilberman tells us.

Precision agriculture uses high technology sensor and analysis tools for better crop yields and assisting management decisions, which studies state help ensure the effective management of fertilizers and irrigation processes. 

The method increases the yield per meter and reduces growth time “by up to 25%,” improving the beans’ glucovanillin content and preventing diseases.

Vanilla Vida’s approach to growing vanilla in greenhouses can “significantly reduce” the risks of climate risks since more climate-stable areas are selected in advance for the establishment of the vanilla farms, he continues.

Data as a tool helps maintain the curing protocols’ accuracy, high vanillin stability and long-lasting aroma (Image credit: Assaf Karela).The move also provides “an additional source of income for farmers from the production of solar energy based on solar panels located on greenhouse roofs.”

Asked about the sourcing of ingredients at Vanilla Vida, Zilberman adds: “We source both from our own greenhouses (currently for samples and research purposes) and from traditional farmers from whom we buy green pods and then implement our curing technology.”

“Our main collaboration is with farmers from Uganda, with whom we have worked closely for the past three years and built trust-based and transparent relations,” he shares. 

Future strides
Looking ahead, Vanilla Vida plans to expand to a global operation site from one to three sites with greenhouses and curing built side by side and increase its greenhouses-grown beans in Uganda and Mexico. 

“Scale is the challenge to tackle this year to meet the demand for the company’s products,” says Zilberman. The company is currently working on new innovations for the vanilla market’s stability and raw material quality’s consistent improvement. 

“We are in the middle of a study about an innovation that has not yet been tried in the field of vanilla, whose results may dramatically affect the ability to provide vanilla pods of a higher quality than what is available on the market,” he reveals.

Meanwhile, the company has “doubled” the size of its greenhouse farms in Israel.

By Insha Naureen