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'''Whether you're on exploring a tour of national park in the SAVA region exploring a national park or just travelling happen to travel through Sambava, the de facto capital of the world's vanilla - , a visit to one of the countless many vanilla plantations as well as combined with a tour of a vanilla preparation and export facility offers an insight into the lengthy and labour intensive transformation of vanilla orchids into the fragrant black vanilla bean that is the final product and baking ingredient that most people are familiar with.'''

What can be seen depends the time of the year and the activities that are ongoing during your a visit. Usually, between Between May and June, the plucking of green vanilla beans happens across plantations along the northwest coast around Sambava, Antalaha and Vohemar as well as further afield into the countryside, while at higher altitudes, around Andapa and Marojejy, the harvesting usually takes place in July or August.

Following harvesting, The green vanilla beans are thereafter traded at organised markets across the vanilla producing regions where buyers arrive to place competing bids for the yearly harvests offered by farmers and various cooperatives. A minimum price is set by the farmers and the government, which in 2022 was 75,000 Ar per kilogram of green vanilla.

The green vanilla are is mostly sold to local exporters who will thereafter manage the months-long transforming process of the green beans beans into the black vanilla beans.