From Madagascar to thirteen European markets, Malagasy Vanilla has transformed a family tradition of expertise into a notable entrepreneurial achievement, driven by direct sales through Temu’s local seller program.
Having long specialised in wholesale distribution, Malagasy Vanilla now sells directly to individual consumers through Temu.
In the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar, vanilla has been cultivated for generations on land where Belinda Rabenandrasana’s grandfather once sold the crop, pod by pod, to local producers. Her father subsequently expanded the business to a national scale before extending its reach internationally in 2017. Today, his daughter Belinda is writing the next chapter of the family enterprise: based in Belgium since 2023, she supplies the same Malagasy vanilla directly to households across Europe, and has recently reached a new milestone that has strengthened both sales and market visibility through Temu’s local seller programme.
Madagascar alone accounts for 75 to 80% of global vanilla production, a share concentrated predominantly in the Sava region (Sambava, Antalaha, Vohémar), where the Vanilla planifolia variety, commonly known as “Bourbon” vanilla, is distinguished by its high vanillin content, rich and woody aroma, and long, lustrous pods. It is this exacting standard of quality, passed down across generations, that the Rabenandrasana family has carried to European markets.
An Unchanged Craft
What has evolved is not the vanilla itself, but the means by which it reaches the consumer. In Madagascar, the crop continues to be cultivated and harvested by local producers and planters’ associations, before undergoing a curing process of six to ten months, carried out by a team of 20 to 40 workers depending on the season, who transform green pods into premium black vanilla, now marketed under the Lavani brand.
For an extended period, this artisanal standard was constrained by logistical limitations: shipping a single package of vanilla to an individual customer could cost nearly as much as the product itself. Direct-to-consumer sales, though a natural extension for a brand of this calibre, remained largely unattainable.
“Temu Has Opened New Opportunities for Us”
A longstanding supplier to restaurants, bakeries, and wholesalers throughout Europe, Malagasy Vanilla reached a significant milestone in November 2025 by joining Temu’s local seller program, thereby establishing, for the first time, a direct sales channel to the general public. Launched in Europe in 2024, the programme is now active in more than 30 markets and is designed to provide small enterprises such as Malagasy Vanilla with direct access to European consumers.
The partnership between Temu and Belgian postal operator Bnode has enabled the company to reduce domestic shipping costs by nearly half, contributing to a fourfold increase in sales within four months. The platform now represents between 5 and 10% of Malagasy Vanilla’s overall revenue.
“Temu has opened new opportunities for us,” states Belinda Rabenandrasana. “We were finally able to engage directly with individual consumers.”
Temu’s logistics network, comprising more than 150 partners across Europe — including Bnode in Belgium, La Poste in France, and DHL Group in Germany — subsequently enabled the company to extend its operations beyond national borders. Malagasy Vanilla now distributes its products across thirteen European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, and Poland.
“Without Temu and its partnership with Bnode, it would have been exceedingly difficult for a small enterprise such as ours to begin selling directly to consumers,” Rabenandrasana adds. “The logistics costs are competitive, brand visibility has increased considerably, and the support provided by Temu’s seller support teams has allowed us to grow our business with confidence.”
Customer Trust as the Best Reward
For a specialised brand such as Lavani, building market visibility typically requires substantial marketing investment. On Temu, however, it is customer reviews that represent the most meaningful form of recognition, with the brand maintaining a positive review rate exceeding 99%.
“When the product is of high quality and customers leave favourable reviews, visibility increases organically,” Rabenandrasana notes. “We have been able to reach a broader customer base and increase our sales accordingly.”
This success has not diminished Belinda Rabenandrasana’s ambitions: she is now targeting several thousand additional sales across Europe and is considering the establishment of a warehouse in France to support continued growth. From its base in Belgium, the company is also developing new products, including vanilla extract and vanilla sugar, and is preparing to open a physical retail outlet and a production facility in Belgium, with additional recruitment planned before the end of the year.
A social impact initiative is also under development, intended to provide direct support to producer communities in Madagascar — a fitting means, in Belinda Rabenandrasana’s view, of channelling the benefits of the company’s European success back to its origins.
“My grandfather worked at a local level, my father expanded the business nationally, and today we continue this endeavour on an international scale,” she concludes. Three generations, united by a single thread: Malagasy vanilla.
