BloombergBusinessweek December 23, 2019
openedupinthemid-1990s,Randriamihajaencountered
moreinternationalbuyers.
A combinationofcuriosityandambitiondrewhimtoward
them.Slowly,tocomplementtheMalagasyandFrenchhe
spoke,hetaughthimselftoread,write,andspeakEnglish.
He’dpracticewiththefewtouristshemetattheOrchidea
HotelinSambava.A naturalconversationalistunafraidof
throwinghimselfintonewexperiences,hedecidedhis
futuremightlieinthetourismindustry.Hetraveledto
Antananarivo,completedcoursesthere,andreturnedto
starta businessasa guide.
Theworkwasinconsistent,mostlybecauseonlythemost
intrepidtouristsmadeit tohiscornerofthecountry,and
aftera fewyearshedecidedtoreturntothebusinesshe’d
grownupin.Hestartedfarmingandcuringhisownvanilla
beans,sellingthemtolocalexporters.Fiveyearsin,hegota
callfromtheproprietoroftheOrchideaHotel.AnAmerican
wasintown,hewastold.Shewasinterestedinvanilla,and
sheneededhelp.
It was2015,andLochheadwasmidwaythroughherfirst
visittoMadagascar.Foryearsshe’dbeenbuyingitsvanilla
fromafar,butshewantedtoimmerseherselfina tradeshe’d
alsobeenborninto,toexperienceit directlyandconnecther-
selftoitssource.Thingsweren’tgoingwell:Shewasbattling
stomachbugs,andtheniecewho’daccompaniedherwas
holedupinthehotel,shiveringthrougha boutofmalaria.
Lochheadhadhopedtoexplorethepossibilityofdealing
moredirectlywithlocalsinpurchasingherbeans,butshe
wasinnoconditiontoexploreanything.“Iwaskindofover-
whelmed,”sheremembered.
Randriamihajametheratthehotel,andtheyjelled.He
becamemorethanjusta guidetothelocalindustry,getting
hisexportinglicenselaterthatsameyearandturninginto
somethingmorelikea partner.Helistenedtoherfrustra-
tionsandsearchedforsolutions.Whenshesaidsheneeded
a morereliablesourceofcertifiedorganicvanilla,heorga-
nizedthecooperativeandtraineditsmemberstomake
suretheyfollowedthecertificationstandards.Althoughthe
cooperative ended up selling its beans to other buyers this
year, both he and Lochhead viewed that disappointment as
a learning experience.
Not too long ago, he took the leaders of the cooperative to
a regional bank branch to show them how the banking sys-
tem works. He opened an account for the group and, over
the course of multiple visits, showed them how money could
be electronically transferred from one account to another.
“Theydidn’ttrustit atfirst,”Randriamihajasaid.“Itwas
veryhardtoconvincethem.Butaftertheleaderssawthatthe
moneyreallywasinthere,thatit wasn’ta trick,andthatthey
couldgetthemoneyanytime,theywereOKwithit.Sothisis
howwewillpaythemfromnowon.”
Recently,Randriamihajaboardeda planeand f lew
beyondtheshoresofhisislandforthefirsttime.Hetraveled
allthewaytotheU.S.tovisitLochhead’svanillaproduc-
tionfacilityinPasoRobles,Calif.—histurntoplungeintoan
entirelyforeignlandscape.FromLosAngeles,hemadehis
waynorth.HecametothebanksoftheSantaClaraRiver,
crossedit,andventuredbacktowardthecoast.Everything
wasexotic:thefive-lanefreeways,thebaseballstadiums,
thewineries,thearrow-straightrowsofasparagusandcab-
bagestretchingtothehorizon.It wastheadventureofhis
life,andit changedhim.
Now,backinMadagascar,hewasoverseeinga teamthat
wascuringseveraltonsofbeansLochheadhadrecently
bought.Theworkersspreadthebeansondryingracksin
his yard. At the front of his house, outside a guard station,
an American flag now flew beside the one from Madagascar.
In his office a stereo played country and western music.
Randriamihaja wore a T-shirt that, against an outline of a
map of America, said, “This Is Chevy Country.”
It would be difficult to come up with a more on-the-nose
illustration of how globalization colors all it touches. But in
Randriamihaja’s office, the colors blur and bleed into one
another. Is the image of him—in that T-shirt, listening to that
music, under that flag—an example of how local cultures get
subsumed by more dominant ones? Or is it a reflection of how
one man celebrates the connections that have permanently
broadened his perspectives?
It’s both things at once, sort of like the poster
Randriamihaja displays on the wall behind his desk. It adver-
tises a campaign by the International Labour Organization
to stamp out child labor in the vanilla fields. He backs that
program and the intentions behind it. But he admitted his
perspective is blurred by mixed feelings.
“I guess they could say I was a victim of child labor,” he
said. Was it exploitation or opportunity? You could make
a strong argument either way, he said. “To me, I was just
helping my parents.”
Above us, the clank of hammers threatened to drown
out the country music coming from the stereo speakers.
On the roof, workers were busy adding another story onto
Randriamihaja’s house. <BW>69A Year in
Vanillaplants flowering
Farmers closely monitor
their plants for any sign
ofa bloombeans maturing
They guard the plants night and
day, hand-stamping each pod with a
personalizedmarkingtothwart thievesindividual vanilla flowersbloomonlyoneday a year,
and the period for pollination lasts just 4–10 hoursbeans harvested
More mature vanilla pods
produce a richer flavor, but
overripepodsareworthless2 months 6–9 months 2 months