General Mills and Haagen-Dazs today announced an initiative to help smallholder vanilla farmers in Madagascar, in order to ensure the availability of vanilla for future generations.
As a part of the new initiative, both the firms together will invest $125,000 over two years to benefit villages in Madagascar's Sava region, the world's leading quality vanilla growing region.
The new program, which is part of a comprehensive sustainable sourcing plan being advanced by General Mills, is expected to leverage the strengths of three partners to help promote sustainable vanilla farming in Madagascar.
General Mills will leverage its supply chain and agronomic knowledge; vanilla supplier Virginia Dare will apply its understanding of the vanilla market; and international humanitarian organization CARE will use its expertise fighting global poverty.
In 2011, General Mills completed an extensive global assessment of the ingredients and materials it sources, developing an overall global sustainable sourcing model.
