Tons of vanilla have been sold to Indonesia, through the PNG Indonesian border, since the recent resurrection of the vanilla industry in parts of East and West Sepik provinces.
Buyers from Indonesia are paying good money for high quality PNG vanilla beans.
Although that is great news for the local growers, Maprik MP John Simon thinks otherwise.
He says when sold to Indonesia, Indonesia claims it as its own, and exports overseas under its tag, making its name globally as one of the top suppliers of vanilla, apart from Madagascar.
PNG is losing millions in kina this way.
According to the Centre for Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), a European organisation funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are currently two types of vanilla on the international market.
There’s the Bourbon vanilla, from Vanilla planifolia “Andrews”, which is mainly cultivated in Madagascar and the preferred type used in Europe, then there’s the extract-grade vanilla from Vanilla tahitensis.
The latter is a weaker vanilla with “fruity, floral and sweet flavours” which is grown in PNG and Indonesia.
Vanilla extracts are used as flavour in food industry and as a fragrance in the cosmetics industry.
Maprik MP Simon, whose district is currently the main hub of vanilla trade, says now that vanilla prices have picked up, this is a great opportunity for PNG to export directly instead of selling to Indonesia to export.
He believes this can also help with the country’s foreign currency issues.
Europe and USA are the biggest importers of vanilla.