A Madagascan pod costs us between five and seven euros depending on the year. A cake takes two.
What the alternative is
Vanillin — synthesised, one compound out of the two hundred and fifty in a real pod — costs about a cent per cake. It smells like vanilla and tastes like the idea of it.
Why the price moves
Madagascar has cyclones. In 2017 one took out a third of the crop and the price went to six hundred euros a kilo, which is roughly the price of silver. It has come down and it will go up again.
We put the pod price into the cake price rather than into the marketing, which is why our vanilla cake costs more than our chocolate one.
That is the whole argument. You can taste it or you cannot, and if you cannot then buy the chocolate one — it is cheaper and it is just as good.
