Vanilla spicing up profitability for startups

Black gold: Dried vanilla beans from a farm in Serang, Banten province. — Reuters

SOFA Arbiyanto held a manufacturing job in South Korea two years ago when he learned about the high price of vanilla on the global market and decided to try his luck at growing it.

Now he has 2,000 vanilla vines on a 1,200sq metre farm in Blora, Central Java, which he started after doing some research on the Internet and joining online groups for vanilla farmers.