Prova CEO talks commitment to sustainability and bringing “story-rich vanilla” to US market

Muriel Acat, CEO of Prova.

24 Jul 2023 --- Vanilla continues to be a flavor with many sustainability challenges and supply chain complexities. Speaking to Food Ingredients First from IFT FIRST in Chicago, last week, Muriel Acat, CEO of the France-based flavor house, shares insights on the vanilla market, with a focus on storytelling for the US market and breakthroughs in technologies.

“We have several programs in Madagascar which focus on the sustainable sourcing of vanilla. Some of our partnerships help us oversee the sourcing of ingredients while working closely with villages and farmers in the region. Together with NGOs, we also implement programs on the ground to implement fairer prices for vanilla,” she explains. 

Discussing this further, Acat notes that it has been “a learning curve.” Still, the company has seen significant progress and is now duplicating the same ingredient sourcing system to ensure traceability across its supply chains. 

“We know exactly whom we buy from and can value that among our customers.” The company also finances social programs from its own pockets, which Acat believes “adds value to supply chains that can be promoted on a global scale.”

Prova actively promotes more responsible and ethical supply chains in its vanilla sourcing programs.The ingredients sourced from Madagascar show Prova’s commitment to sustainability and traceability, backed by vanilla certifications. 

Natural vanilla prices fluctuate drastically and can be affected by many external factors. Long periods of depressed prices caused by an excess supply of low-quality pods alternate with dramatic price spikes caused by market shortages, when poverty has led farmers to tear out their vines or cyclones wiped out production in Madagascar.

For Prova, farmers pay us the regular price, notes Acat. “We do try to follow the market, but it’s important to be realistic,” she says. 

Speculation of pricing 
However, there has been a “fall in prices which has been a drama in the case of vanilla.”

“When prices were high, they were too high in the market for too long. So this ended up in speculation and shortages, which had nothing to do with the real situation of the raw material. In this sense, speculation can be very damaging, and only now are we at a point of turnaround,” she underscores. 

Acat also observes that “it’s too soon to tell the real price of that crop.” “But she says, “There we are again, and the rule of supply and demand confronts us.”

“There are plenty of opportunities in the market; we do have crops, lots of stock, but the demand for vanilla can be unstable,” Acat comments. “The reason for this is that vanilla is just too expensive. The demand has never really increased because it has always been a well-known and well-loved flavor. However, due to cost issues, manufacturers reformulate artificial vanilla, then go back to natural vanilla and this continues.”

As an ingredient, it has always adjusted to price hikes and when the prices were low, producers tended to go back to natural vanilla natural because it was cheaper. “When prices were very high, consumers just cut down their consumption,” she tells us. 

We need to resume that consumption, which will take some time, Acat highlights. However, it is reasonable to expect that people will be interested in real vanilla again,” she explains, adding that, “vanilla is the best flavor in the world; who doesn’t love vanilla?”

Storytelling in vanilla 
Acat also reflects on the magic of bringing story-rich vanilla to the US at a time when storytelling in F&B is prevalent. 

“There are many different flavor profiles of vanilla and the consumer palate has adjusted over time as we become more into the story’s origins and global flavors in general,” Acat notes. 

“Flavors are renovated and become new again, and it’s the same with vanilla, as a mainstay flavor that is known globally. Storytelling helps in this instance, and a good flavor is what consumers will always come back to,” she highlights. 

“With innovation and storytelling, we can open a whole new world to vanilla tastes and explore unknown origins. That’s where we see the greatest opportunity now, and specifically for the US market.”

Future-proofing vanilla 
The theme of the IFT trade show this year was future-proofing, and Acat says Prova is actively looking to future-proof vanilla as an ingredient. 

“We have a wide range of technologies and sourcing capabilities that we are highlighting,” she notes. Prova supplies vanilla and flavors in 60 countries worldwide. The company’s stand at IFT FIRST 2023 in Chicago.

“If you look at our range, it keeps growing and moving with the times.” Acat shares that “sustainability is a deeper dive into what is needed in the marketplace.” 

“We keep moving with these market trends and try to stay modern with vanilla because it’s not a flavor that is going anywhere, but we have to find new ways of using it to make it easy for our customers,” she says. 

In the US, vanilla is a commodity that can be adapted “to our clients’ usage,” Acat notes. “We have application-specific technologies that help us propose the best-suited flavor so that the flavor yield is much better when you have a fat-soluble flavor, for instance.”

For Prova, the US market is significant. “We have been present in the US for 35 years, and it’s probably the right time to be even more present in this market,” Acat reflects. 

“Over the past few years, there have been a lot of additions, like our new flavor lab and UHT machines. There are many exciting things happening in terms of extraction and formulation of flavors that we are still exploring and playing with compounding flavors in different areas.”

It’s also essential to keep up with the trends but explore more functional flavors for replacement solutions, such as sugar reduction and replacing off-tastes in plant-based products.  

“This extraction and flavor formulation is going strong both globally and in the US market,” concludes Acat.

By Elizabeth Green, with additional reporting by Missy Green

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