Vanilla Bean Shortage Threatens To Spoil Ice Cream Season
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Could a vanilla shortage in Madagascar impact your summertime ice cream cone?
Eric Burley of Franklin Fountain says in one year, their vanilla bean prices have spiked from $97 a gallon to $205 a gallon.
"A price increase of over 100% of any product, any year, I would say is exorbitant," he says.
Michael Strange of Bassett's Ice Cream describes his reaction to the vanilla bean cost spike.
"Shocked isn't the word," he says. "Not thrilled would be a reasonable phrase to express my feeling about that."
But Strange says he's gotten used to the price hike by now:
"Probably about six or eight months ago it came on my radar," he says. "It was just another cost increase I had to accept in the course of business."
Strange says seen this before. Both he and Burley cited a previous weather situation in Madagascar, where the bulk of their vanilla beans are grown, that spiked prices about a decade ago.
So both he and Burley say despite increasing costs, the consumer doesn't have to worry.
"It's still a small percentage, relative to the total costs of our ingredients," Strange says.
"I would just look forward to maintaining scoop prices here at Franklin Fountain," Burley says. "We're going to try and bolster the vanilla increases by selling more product."