
Vanilla comes from the pod of a tropical climbing orchid native to Mexico, and to this day some of the best vanilla beans in the world are produced in Papantla, Mexico.
We visited our vanilla supplier in Papantla, in April 2017 to see how vanilla production had changed since we were last there over 20 years ago.
After flying from Mexico City to Poza Rica, we travelled by road to Gutiérrez Zamora near Papantla. The next day we drove through dense tropical jungle to reach one of the Gaya vanilla plantations.