The Vanilla Shortage

[BakerAunt]

Here is an interesting article about why vanilla prices have become so high--with no respite in sight:

https://www.eater.com/2017/10/19/16468074/vanilla-prices-rising

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[Mike Nolan]

I stocked up on vanilla extract about a year ago when the news out of Madagascar first broke, so I should be good for another year or so.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Yes. I stocked up too. Someone (Mike or BA) warned us here and I bought a gallon or so from Costco. It was $16 a pint last March and is $24 now which is actually still a decent price compare to what I can find anywhere else. I have to go to Walmart today for some flour so I'll check there.

My one question about the article is, do people who eat Hershey's kisses really care that they use fake vanilla? 😉

[BakerAunt]

I also stocked up on vanilla back then, after reading a warning from Penzey's, even though we were preparing to move. I just hope that all of us can outlast the vanilla shortage until the price gets more reasonable.

[skeptic7]

I just bought a 12 oz bottle of Watkin's Natural Vanilla. It was $29.99 + tax. I last bought a bottle several years previously and I remember it as expensive but not this bad.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Prices will probably never go all the way back down. Some of this was caused by the disaster that struck the vanilla crop but part of it is the result of the increased use of real vanilla.

Coffee prices went up after something similar and they've never come back down. There was a WSJ article a week back or so that talked about people paying as much as $40 per CUP of coffee.

[Italiancook]

I didn't heed the first warning and stock-up on vanilla. I'm going to heed this one and hope it's not too late. BakerAunt, I want to try Penzey's vanilla, but I have a question. I glean from this site that Penzey's has 2 types of vanilla. Regular strength and double strength. Which do you buy? I wonder if the double strength is worth the money, although I think I read somewhere that people should use half the amount of vanilla the recipe calls for when using the double strength. I'm thinking, though, that what's the fun of having the double strength if you're basically using a regular strength dose of it.

[BakerAunt]

Hi, Italian Cook. I actually do not buy vanilla from Penzey's, although I have received it as a gift on occasion. I do buy other spices from them, so I signed up for their emails, which sometimes have special offers (and occasionally, free shipping for $20 worth). That is how I found out about the vanilla crisis in the spring.

I used to buy a quart of vanilla from KAF, then fill my smaller 16 oz. jars. I won't be doing that again for a VERY long time, but I did have a half bottle or so. I like the Nieman-Massey (spelling?) which is what KAF carries, but for a while I was able to find it at T.J. Maxx in small bottles. I did stock up on another brand at T.J. Maxx as well.

On the KAF site, a member named Livingwell (Cass called her Penelope) did use the double strength, but I seem to recall that she used half in recipes. I'm not sure why they make the double strength.

As I recall from our discussions, we decided that real vanilla--no matter the brand--was about the same.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Went to Walmart today and ironically the "Great Value" brand vanilla was the most expensive. The least expensive was Watkins Baking Vanilla which claimed to be double strength so as not to have the flavor "baked out" or "frozen out" two thing of which I have never heard. It was $8.24 for 8 oz which would be $16.48/pint. Pretty good.

I used Penzy's double strength because we had a bottle and did not notice a difference even using it one-for-one with a regular recipe. The biggest difference I ever noticed in vanilla was Mexican vs. Madagascar. Mexican was a little sharper. It came through in lighter-flavored baked goods liked scones but not stronger-flavored things like chocolate cookies or cake. I could tell the difference in pancakes and waffles without syrup but not once I added the syrup to them. I do not remember the brand. It was a gift from someone who went on a cruise to Mexico.

[RiversideLen]

I was blown away by the prices for vanilla. I wish I had stocked up. I bought an 8 ounce bottle last year from the Spice House and still have some left. One thing that is making my vanilla last longer is I have grown fond of the Spice House's hazelnut flavoring, so I usually use that in frosting in place of vanilla ( a couple of drops in the coffee pot is good too). Anyway, I bought an 8 ounce bottle of Mexican vanilla for under $30.

[BakerAunt]

Using other flavors is an excellent idea, Riverside Len. I usually use half almond extract and half vanilla in my spritz cookies. (I really wish my husband had not buried that particular box of cookbooks with A Field Guide to Christmas Cookies, which has my favorite spritz cookie recipe!)

I've often thought that King Arthur overuses vanilla in some of the recipes, and even put it in where it might not be particularly needed. Now that there is a vanilla shortage, maybe that will change.

I found some Mexican vanilla in my stash--probably from a Christmas gift from Penzey's. I'll make note of Aaron's observation about its flavoring being best in lighter flavored baked goods.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Len, I did find vanilla for $16/pint at Walmart. I cannot vouch for the quality but it is real vanilla.

Costco is $24-25 and it is pretty good.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[Italiancook]

Aaron, offhand, do you know the brand of vanilla Costco carries. I just searched their website. I looked for "vanilla," "pure vanilla," "vanilla extract," "liquid vanilla," and "McCormick vanilla." I didn't find it under any of those terms.

[Mike Nolan]

I'll check on the vanilla the next time I'm at our new Costco, which opened on Saturday and is only a few blocks from us. So far I've not been impressed with their website as a shopping experience, though. (Sams site is much better, IMHO.)

They may not carry the same brand of vanilla at every store, and it might be their house brand, Kirkland.

I know they only carry King Arthur flour in the northeastern US (though KAF uses mills in Kansas, among others), I'm not sure they even carry an 'unbleached' flour here.

[Mike Nolan]

Stopped at the local Costco yesterday, a 16 ounce bottle of vanilla extract (no brand name but packaged for Costco) was $26.99.

They also had unbleached organic AP flour in 10 pound bags as well as much larger bags of bleached AP flour.

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