London ice cream parlour takes vanilla off the menu after cyclones and drought

A London ice cream parlour has had to stop selling vanilla because of cyclones and drought in Madagascar. 

Julie Fisher, who owns the Ruby Violet chain, said customers thought it was a joke when the staple ice cream flavour was removed from the menu. 

It comes as the price of the crop has soared, with one kilogram of vanilla pods coasting £580 instead of the usual £65 or £75, Ms Fisher said, according to The Times. 

Earlier this year it was reported that the spice had become more expensive than its equivalent weight in silver. 

Ms Fisher said: ‘We have committed to only natural ingredients, so I have said no to any synthetic vanillas. 

‘We aren’t passing the increase in the cost on to the customers, we are taking the hit. So when a table of customers asks for a round of vanilla milkshakes, my heart does sink a bit’. 

Around 85 per cent of the world’s vanilla supply comes from Madagascar, where crops have also been affected by thefts and crime, it is reported. 

One plantation owner in the north-east of the island said his supplies had been targeted by robbers.  

Rival producers such as Indonesia and India do not grow enough to make up for any shortfalls there.  

A London ice cream parlour has had to stop selling vanilla because of cyclones and drought in Madagascar, with one kilogram of vanilla pods coasting £580 instead of the usual £65 or £75

‘Spent’ vanilla specks – used-up beans which are ground together and resold – have jumped in price from $40 to $150 per kg.

They are typically used by food firms alongside artificial vanilla flavouring, because this allows businesses to say their products contain real pods and put a picture of a one on their packages.

Only 1 per cent of vanilla extract used in food and make-up comes from the plant.

The rest is made by extracting vanillin molecules from coal tar, petroleum and wood – as well as some other foods such as oils from rice and cloves.