Hervol loving life in the 'Wild West' of Madagascar

On a hot summer day when the ice cream is dripping off the sides of the cone and down your hand you probably don’t think of Madagascar.

But maybe you should.

Because that delicious vanilla flavor likely came from the island country off the east coast of Africa and maybe, just maybe, it came from a kid who grew up in Columbia Falls and was a Hall of Fame athlete.

Because 10 years ago, after graduating from the University of Puget Sound in Washington, Danny Hervol packed up his things and joined the Peace Corps, working 27 months in the poor island country. 

Hervol, who is now 33, liked the place so much he decided to stay. In 2009 he got involved in vanilla business and today is the Madagascar director of Lafaza, a vanilla manufacturing and exporting company based in Toamasina.

Lafaza partners directly with small farmers via their cooperatives to produce and export some of the country’s highest-quality natural vanilla. This direct-trade model allows the company to pay farmers a premium price for exceptional vanilla beans and still provide competitive prices its customers.

Madagascar grows 80 percent of all the vanilla beans in the world and Hervol is in the thick of the business. Vanilla beans come from an orchid plant that originates in Mexico. When it was first introduced to other countries, however, it didn’t produce beans because in its native country, its pollinated by a specific bee. But then a French slave figured out hundreds of years ago the plant could also be pollinated by hand. Madagascar became a great place to grow the fickle plant.

Hervol works closely with farmer co-ops that grow vanilla in a sustainable way with their other crops. They don’t always view the plant with high regard — vanilla has to be properly aged and cured for three months before the bean pods give off their distinctive flavor.

The vanilla market lately has gone through the roof, as there’s a shortage worldwide, Hervol said.

A kilogram of vanilla used to run $60 to $70. Now it’s $200.

Being in the business is an adventure, Hervol said. Madagascar is both poor and corrupt. The roads run from bad to horrible. Hervol said one route he takes to visit his farmers is about 165 miles, but takes two days by motorcycle and includes five river crossings by ferry. And it’s not a ferry like you’d think. They run you across the river in a handmade wooden canoe with your motorcycle in the middle of the canoe and you in the bow. No life preserver. Fall out and you’re going for a swim.

Regulations and rules are few and far between.

“It feels like the wild west,” he said. “Instead of horses, they have motorcycles. Instead of carriages, they have Toyota four-by-fours.”

The environment also comes with a freedom Hervol enjoys. The ocean is just a few blocks from his house, it used to be right outside his apartment, but he moved further into town to be closer to work.

In short, life isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s really good. He said he eats well and so far has dodged any of the tropical diseases, like malaria and Dengue fever.

He came home for the holidays, partially on business, partially to visit family. His accent sounds European now. He speaks Malagasy and several of its dialects fluently. His French is serviceable, but he slows down when he speaks English now, because most people in Madagascar don’t speak it as well.

He sounds nothing like the teen who was a Hall of Fame athlete at Columbia Falls High School in 2001. He still holds the school record for the high jump.

He’s one of the few white people in the region and there are even fewer Americans. Some think he’s CIA. He never answers if they ask. He’s not married, though he does have a maid.

In short, Hervol seems to have found a new home.

“Everyone is happy and nice, even though they’re poor,” he said.

 You can learn more about Lafaza vanilla at www.lafaza.com