Ashley Britton moved from Bournemouth to Peru over five years ago, and now owns Sekut Vanilla Company.
He works with indigenous growers in the Amazon jungle to produce high quality, sustainably grown vanilla beans and extracts.
Britton was born and raised in the UK and went to Peru for the first time at age 18 in 2007.
He said: “I fell in love with Peru and settled here shortly after on the edge of the Amazon jungle in a town called Moyobamba, where the Andes meet the Amazon.”
Originally Ashley had planned to travel to Peru in order to pursue his interests of Shamanism and plant medicine, but five years ago Britton started experimenting with growing and curing locally grown vanilla beans using traditional methods.
Now he says he is “pioneering a new industry for Peru” by working with indigenous communities to harvest and hand-cure the Pompona vanilla bean.
He said: “I discovered this vanilla bean completely by chance, I just happened to be living in a little village where this variety was growing wild, nobody was using it or doing anything with it.
“I decided to dry them and took them back on my trip to England , did some investigation and discovered it was a rare variety.
“Now, I am selling to top end restaurants in Paris as well as specialty fine food distributors in the US.”
Vanilla Pompona is a rare variety of vanilla ,which sets it apart from standard bourbon vanilla with its complex flavour profile.
Ashley says: “They have a buttery, almost caramel-like richness, combined with fruity and floral notes.”
It took Ashley over a year to learn how to cure vanilla beans through trial and error and he learnt how to pollinate the flowers without any formal training.
He says he has now “mastered the art of curing.”
Following the success of the Sekut Vanilla Company, Britton said:
“We are now pioneering a new industry in Peru and have 50 other families growing vanilla with us, we are the number one exporter in Peru and have also started a Vanilla Association.”
The company do not just offer the vanilla beans for food use but also make vanilla extracts, resins, fragrances, and are planning on launching a line of cosmetic products soon.
The Sekut Vanilla Company is the only producer supplying superior Vanilla Pompona beans and extracts of this quality. Having well-established, fairly traded collaborations with native farmers and growers who subscribe to the same sustainable permaculture ethos.
Ashley Britton says his aim now is to “work with chefs, restaurant owners, distilleries, gourmet food producers and natural food retailers to establish the brand in the UK and Europe, and bring his exclusive vanilla variety and its fabulous flavours direct from the Amazon to the UK gourmet food market.”
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