A farmer's hand cradling a cluster of green vanilla beans growing on a shaded vine

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Ugandan Vanilla, Grown the Slow Way

Hand-pollinated Bourbon vanilla with two gazetted harvests a year — cured over months, graded pod by pod, rich in natural vanillin.

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A farmer hand-pollinating a pale vanilla orchid with a thin splint, in close focus

01 / Pollination

One Flower, One Morning

Every vanilla orchid opens for a single morning — and in that window, someone has to be there. Our Vanilla planifolia vines climb living tutor trees under natural shade in the foothills of Bundibugyo and the gardens of Mukono, and every flower is pollinated by hand, one blossom at a time, with a bamboo splint and a steady thumb.

The discipline of that one morning decides the harvest nine months before it happens. Vanilla simply doesn't happen any other way.

Two farmers picking mature green vanilla beans into a woven basket among shaded vines

02 / The Harvest

Two Gazetted Seasons a Year

Uganda's equatorial climate gives it something almost no other origin has: two harvest seasons a year, opening around June and late December on dates gazetted by the Ministry of Agriculture each cycle — so no pod is cut before full maturity. Beans spend roughly nine months on the vine first; vanillin is built in the field, not the warehouse.

That double season helped Uganda export a record 604 tonnes in 2024 and claim its place as the world's second-largest vanilla producer, per the Ministry of Agriculture.

Workers turning dark curing vanilla beans spread on racks under an open-sided shelter

03 / The Cure

Months of Blanching, Sweating, Sunning

Curing is where a green pod becomes vanilla: blanched in hot water, wrapped to sweat in wool, then sun-cured and conditioned over three to six months until each bean turns supple, oily, and deep chocolate-brown.

The reward for the slow way is measurable: natural vanillin between 1.8% and 2.2% — with Ugandan Grade A typically at the top of that range, above the average of most origins.

Workers grading, weighing and tying bundles of cured dark vanilla beans at a sorting table

04 / Grading & Export

Graded Pod by Pod

Every bean is inspected individually — graded by length, moisture, flexibility, and aroma, then bundled, weighed, and vacuum-packed in food-grade cartons. Gourmet lots ship at 30–35% moisture, extraction grade at 20–25%.

Ugandan vanilla's biggest buyers are the USA, France, and Germany, and lots leave via air freight from Entebbe with certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, and full lot traceability.

From Orchid to Order

  1. 01. Pollinate & Grow

    Every flower hand-pollinated in its single-morning window; beans mature ~9 months on the vine.

  2. 02. Harvest & Cure

    Picked inside the gazetted season, then blanched, sweated, and sun-cured over 3–6 months.

  3. 03. Grade & Bundle

    Each pod graded by length, moisture, flexibility, and aroma — then bundled and vacuum-packed.

  4. 04. Ship by Air

    Vacuum-packed export cartons, full documentation, FOB Entebbe — CIF on request.

Buyer Specifications

SpeciesVanilla planifolia (Bourbon)
GradesGourmet / Grade A · extraction grade on request
Vanillin1.8–2.2%
MoistureGourmet 30–35% · extraction 20–25%
Pod length14–18 cm
PackagingVacuum-packed, food-grade export cartons
HarvestsTwo seasons — around June & late Dec/Jan (per gazetted dates)
Minimum order25 kg · larger volumes by agreement
Samples100 g graded sample by courier, typically within 5 days
DocumentationCertificate of origin · phytosanitary · full lot traceability
IncotermsFOB Entebbe (air) · CIF on request

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