Vava'u - Tonga
In one of the most spectacular locations in Tonga we have gone in partnership with the local village of Utungake and with their help have constructed an organic vanilla plantation on 8 acres of their land.
Vanilla is traditionally grown in the wild climbing larger host trees. We have emulated this environment in a purpose built shade house which aims to provide optimum conditions for the vanilla plants.
Our shade house development was the first of it's kind in Tonga and acknowledged by MAF as a significant step forward for the local vanilla industry.
Tauranga - New Zealand
Vanilla grows in a narrow tropical band around the equator that certainly doesn't come close to New Zealand. They told us we couldn't grow it in New Zealand - "why not" we said!
We measured the key characteristics of the climate in our Tongan shade house and designed and built a computer controlled plastic house that emulates this environment. In fact we have optimised this environment based on our research into the requirements of the vanilla plant and the results have been fantastic!
Our first generation vanilla plant imported from Tonga in tissue culture has produced vanilla beans and we now wait for our commercial plantings in New Zealand to start producing - "why not" we say!
Recently in Tauranga, we hosted the retired Tongan Director of Agriculture. He was impressed with our glasshouse environment in Tauranga and also thanked us for our work in Vava'u, establishing the first commercial Vanilla Plantation in Tonga.
Growing Vanilla
A significant part of our journey into Vanilla has been learning how to grow the Vanilla vine and then manipulate it to produce Vanilla pods.
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