Vanilla is been described as one of the most soothing and familiar flavors in the world. It's continuously one of the most popular flavors of ice cream in the world. It evokes mother's milk, that nascent comfort of mild sweetness while belying the rich depth of flavor that can be coaxed out in the right hands. It is a flavor whose imitators are common, but quality vanilla is rare and costly, an indulgence.
For the Jones family of Liberty, vanilla is part of their context. After years of missionaries in places like London, South Africa, and Madagascar, they came home to Missouri. With them, they brought a love of the people that they connected with overseas, particularly the Malagasy, or the people of Madagascar.
Kurtis and Holly Jones answered the call as missionaries but when they came home they wanted to find a way to stay connected with the communities that they served in Madagascar. Sava Trading Company is the result of that continuing relationship.
When they were serving in Madagascar, nearly all of their community worked in the vanilla industry.
"Madagascar provides nearly 85% of the world's supply of vanilla," says Kurtis. While vanilla, which is a product of the Vanilla planifolia, a member of the orchid family, is native to Mexico, it found a home and climate that it loves in Madagascar. What it doesn't have there is its native pollinators, leaving the work of the bees to human inhabitants.
"When they plant the vine. it takes about three years before the flowers open, and they start producing vanilla. When the flowers open, you basically have 24 hours to hand pollinate the orchid, so typically women and children do the pollinating. They use a needle from an orange tree or something that's sharp and they basically press the stems inside [the flower] together and wait about six months until the bean is ready to harvest. And one flower produces one vanilla bean. So imagine how many flowers need to be hand pollinated for 85% of the world's vanilla supply. It's a very tedious process," says Kurtis.
After the bean is harvested, it's cured and shipped to distributors such as Sava Trading Company. Kurtis and Holly do the extraction on a larger scale as well as selling beans themselves and they've found quite a following, supplying beans to places like Christopher Elbow Chocolates, J. Reiger and Co., Ibis Bakery, and more.
Kurtis says that by working directly with the people they know in Madagascar, they are able to pay a fair wage to those laboring for years on a single crop. This direct trade model ensures good wages for a premium product that is valued by chefs, brewers, bakers, and distillers alike.
Sava Trading Company vanilla extract and beans are also available locally at area HyVees and Cosentino's Markets. With three young sons anxious to go back to Madagascar, the Jones family is happy to keep their connection to a people that has become family while providing a flavor that we all savor.
For more information or to order online, visit SavaTradingCo.com.