East Nusa Tenggara · Nusa Tenggara
Alor vanilla
Vanilla from the Alor archipelago in East Nusa Tenggara is registered as a geographical indication. Vanilla is the crop where origin claims are hardest to verify and easiest to make, which is exactly why a registered name is worth something here.
A protected name.
Vanili Kep. Alor
IG.00.2012.0000061
Registered for the Alor islands in East Nusa Tenggara, one of very few Indonesian vanilla origins on the register.
What makes it different.
- Hand pollination, every flower
- Vanilla outside its native Mexico is pollinated by hand, one flower at a time, on a single day each. It is why the crop costs what it does.
- Curing makes the product
- Green beans have no aroma. Killing, sweating, drying and conditioning over months develop it, and a rushed cure is the most common defect in Indonesian vanilla.
- Dry eastern islands
- Nusa Tenggara is markedly drier than Java or Sumatra, which changes both the growing cycle and how curing is managed.
- Theft shapes the harvest
- Vanilla is valuable enough that beans are stolen from vines, which pushes growers to pick early. Early picking is the underlying cause of weak lots.
What we source here.
Indonesian vanilla beans
Why premature harvest decides an Indonesian vanilla lot, what the grade letters mean, and why the vanillin figure belongs in the contract.
How to verify an Indonesian supplier
Two public government registries, the cross-check between them that catches most problems before a deposit moves, and the part only a visit can answer.
Export documents, by category
Four categories, four different sets of paperwork and almost no overlap. Built from the reference pages, so it cannot fall behind what is published.
Questions buyers ask.
How does Indonesian vanilla compare with Madagascar?
Indonesia is a large producer and much of its crop is cured faster and sold at lower moisture, which suits extraction more than it suits whole-bean retail. A properly cured Indonesian bean is a different matter, and that is what a registered origin and a real curing house are for.
What should I specify?
Moisture, vanillin content, bean length and grade, and whether the lot is intended for extraction or for whole-bean sale. Those four settle most disputes before they start.
Does the registration prevent mislabelling?
It gives you a defined name to contract on and a body behind it, which is more than most vanilla origins offer. It does not inspect anyone's warehouse. Retained samples and analysis on the shipped lot still do the real work.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Worth reading.
Buying from Alor archipelago?
Tell us the specification and the port. We go to the region, look at the material and put the documents together before anyone quotes a price.
Sources
- 1Register of protected geographical indications. Direktorat Jenderal Kekayaan Intelektual, Republic of Indonesia. Checked 5 August 2026.