Through the mists of History... Vanilla |22 August 2016

Once upon a time, vanilla was the pillar of our economy. Introduced from Reunion in 1866, it was exported for the first time in 1877: 60 kilos for R1,195. Our record year for vanilla was in 1899 when we earned R1,338,720 from an export of 41,835 kilos – more than that year’s National Budget which was R277,705! This year marks the 150th anniversary since the arrival of vanilla to our islands.

Compiled by Tony Mathiot