Huge demand of Indonesian gourmet vanilla in French and American perfume industry

Aside from its normal usage in the food and beverage industries, some of the vanilla exported from Indonesia, especially the gourmet quality, has also been used as an ingredient to produce perfume and other cosmetic products. The international pharmaceutical industry has now accounted for around 30% of the total export of vanilla from Indonesia. Two countries that have been relying on Indonesian vanilla are France and the USA. Nonetheless, the production of gourmet vanilla quality is considerably more difficult in comparison to the production of Grade-B vanilla and it also requires more time in production. Hence, the farmers can only sell gourmet vanilla at the premium price, making it a very niche commodity with a very specific target market.