Jennifer Boggiss is working to put Tonga on the world vanilla map.
She's the CEO and co-founder of Heilala Vanilla, a Tauranga company celebrating its tenth birthday this year.
Heilala's vanilla pods are grown on a 60-hectare plantation on the small island of ʻEua, and they've just planted another 100 acres on the main island of Utu Vavaʻu in partnership with a local grower.
In 2021, this crop will be harvested, and by that time Heilala aims to have 200 Tongan women employed in the industry, Boggiss says.
"It will create momentum and it will also assist all the other smallholder farmers and create a real vibrant and successful industry for Tonga."
Heilala started ten years ago as a household operation with vanilla plants growing in the bathroom and labelling going on late into the night.
Now they have a team of 15 employees in Tauranga, export to seven countries and also supply the food service and food manufacture industries.
Currently, Heilala is focused on making a name in the Australian and US markets, Boggiss says.
In the last two years, the price of vanilla has soared in response to the trend for international food companies like Unilever and Nestlé seeking to use real vanilla rather than vanilla flavour in their products.
To ensure supply in the face of environmental insecurity, Heilala will plant vanilla crops in Fiji and Samoa in the future, she says.
Related stories:
- Vanilla producer plans huge Tonga expansion (Dateline Pacific)
- The story of Heilala Vanilla (Country Life)
- 'Black gold': Vanilla prices reach record highs (RNZ News)
- Vanilla grower Jennifer Boggiss (Nine to Noon)
- Heilala Vanilla: flavour from Tonga via Tauranga (Country Life)
