The Missing Link: Sustainability and Quality

 

Henry Todd

Virginia Dare

Brooklyn, NY

hwtoddjr@VirginiaDare.com

 

Increasing difficulty in maintaining the quality of Malagasy vanilla is often perceived to be the result of poor farmer discipline or unwillingness by other vanilla market stakeholders to respect prescribed harvest dates and best practices. An examination of Madagascar’s vanilla market will identify structural issues that prevent economic alignment between growers and downstream market participants.  The potential for sustainable business models to address these structural issues will be examined.  Specific emphasis will be placed on Virginia Dare’s most recent sustainability initiatives in Madagascar and current market context.

 

Henry Todd is the Paris, France based Vice President of International Operations at Virginia Dare. He is responsible for managing the Company’s business in Europe and parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He reports to Howard Smith, Jr.

Henry brings 20 years of food ingredient experience to Virginia Dare. Prior to joining the company, he acted as Managing Director of Europe, Middle East and Africa for A.M. Todd where he worked until 2012. Henry was able to develop deep vanilla expertise in his role as President of Zink & Triest where he was employed from 1992 to 2005. He began his professional career in banking within Sales and Marketing at State Street Bank.

Henry received a B.A. from Dartmouth College. He has traveled extensively, particularly in Madagascar, Indonesia, India and Uganda in his roles at both A.M. Todd and Zink & Triest.