Worldwide Vanilla Shortage Affects Local Ice Cream Shop

No vanilla icecream at Oddono's, as Madagascan crop fails

Italian family chain Oddono's gelati have had to take vanilla ice-cream, one of their most popular flavours, off the menu due to a worldwide crisis with the vanilla pod in Madagascar.

Prices for the flavouring on the world market have rocketed by 500% due to a shortage following bad weather this year. The consequences are now being felt by small retailers such as Oddono's which says it may have to wait months for a new crop to come in.

A spokesperson for the Chiswick shop said that they had substituted a milky Italian icecream, Fiordilatte, for the moment. Pistachio is the most popular flavour icecream at their Chiswick branch, but vanilla is always in high demand.

The ice-cream store, which has branches in South Kensington, Bayswater, Battersea, Hampstead and east Dulwich is now awaiting the next vanilla crop, which may take a few months. They say that middlemen have also been holding back the stocks, forcing prices up all over the world.

Oddono's make all their ice creams and sorbets on site in each shop, adding ingredients individually.

Foubert's which has been selling ice-cream in Chiswick since 1978, is still selling vanilla icecream but they do not make it themselves on site.

Oddono's Gelati Italiani started trading in July 2004 in Bute Street, South Kensington. The company was set up by Christian Oddono, whose grandmother used to make delicious home-made gelato in Italy. To date they have over 130 flavours, including cinnamon, basil, chocolate and cognac, vodka lemon, chocolate ginger and chili icecream.

Best sellers include Pistachio, Chocolate, Nocciola (Hazelnut), Bacio ( milky chocolate and hazelnut), and vanilla. The most popular sorbets are Mango, Strawberry, and Coconut.

August 15, 2017