New Zealand harvests vanilla

Vanilla usually only thrives in the climactic conditions afforded in countries that fall into a narrow 20-degree band either side of the equator, but New Zealand company Heilala Vanilla has harvested the first vanilla to be grown outside of the tropics.

The operation is located in Tauranga in the Bay Of Plenty on New Zealand’s North Island and is meticulous in its duplication of Tongan conditions, right down to matching the soil and introducing computer-controlled humidity and heating using geo-thermal hot water.

Vanilla demands an intricate growing and production process and is one of the most labour-intensive agricultural products in the world. The orchid flower of the vanilla plant opens up only once a year in the morning, closing again at midday, never to reopen. These four hours are the sole window of opportunity for pollination; an intricate exercise of procreation requiring nimble fingers and wooden tweezers, the size of matchsticks, to delicately push the stamen and stigma together - nine months on, a single bean is produced.

This is followed by a lengthy eight-week curing process. Heilala Vanilla grows the Madagascar Bourbon variety, considered to be the best quality, exuding a creamy, sweet richness.