Vanilla ice cream is by far the most popular ice cream in the world, of that there's no doubt. The stats to my ice cream recipes have proven that year upon year. Vanilla is therefore a valued commodity and already commands quite a price on the open market compared to many other foodstuffs. In the news today there have been reports about poor vanilla crops in Mexico and India creating speculation that there will be a shortage of vanilla and vanilla extract this summer.
Straight away many news agencies and newspapers have started scare-mongering about high ice cream prices this summer. According to them, this vanilla ice cream cone could fast become a luxury!
Thankfully, it seems not everyone is getting carried away by these reports - one leading producer of vanilla has just made a public announcement to the effect that they don't anticipate any particular shortage in supplies so their customers who buy from them to make ice cream and other foods using vanilla/vanilla extract should not suffer significant price increases. Read the full story from PR Newswire here
Hopefully, they will be right .... ice cream is such a wonderful 'happy' food that it needs to be affordable by everyone, whether they make homemade ice cream or buy commercially made ice cream.
Long may vanilla be in plentiful supply!
Interested in reading more about vanilla? Read my vanilla page.