Golden Atlas Exp exports Organic, Superior, High Flavor Vanilla beans. We are vanilla beans suppliers from Madagascar. The origin of the Organic superior Vanilla beans is Madagascar. Golden Atlas Exp controls all the process from the harvest till export.
The Minimum Order for the Organic superior vanilla beans is: 50 kg packed in 2 Cartons. Shipments are made in boxes of 25 kg net , we export worldwide. Shipment for less then 1000 kg will be shipped by air, and Shipment for 1000 kg and up it will be shipped by sea.
The Madagascar vanilla is renowned worldwide as a reference in terms of superior quality with a high flavor and aromatic and Madagascar is the world's leading exporter of vanilla. Quality does not only depend on origin but also on the type of the bean and its moisture content. During the sun and shadow drying phases, each bean will not progress in the same way. Some will be dryer than others. It is after sorting and maturing phases, the final quality of the madagascar vanilla bean will be defined in three major categories that can be split or non split:
BLACK Gourmet : "Prime" or "Grade A "
Vanilla Black Gourmet, from its botanical name Vanilla Planifolia comes from Madagascar. It’s premium vanilla. It comes in the form of sparkling black sticks, which has been commonly called pods. Black Gourmet vanilla beans have a supple, oily, fleshy, shiny appearance and a uniform color.They have a floral and powerful aroma with like warm notes of cocoa. As for their specification, Bourbon vanilla pods have a high vanillin content from 1.6% to 2.2%. They represent a humidity rate of 30 to 38%. Their length is from 14cm to 22 cm. Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar is the richness in vanillin and is the most aromatic and fragrant of all the specimens that exist. It is perfect for chocolate makers,desserts, beverages and bakeries . Bourbon vanilla is an extraordinary vanilla for both great chefs and novices.

Black TK:
TK black vanilla or brown vanilla is less flexible than Gourmet Black vanilla because it's little drier and has a lower vanillin level than the Gourmet Black. TK black vanilla is a high quality vanilla. It differs from Black vanilla by its lower humidity and its brownish. This type of vanilla is ideal for all types of dessert: pastry, ice cream and others, beverages, chocolate factories, etc. It is even used for the production of natural extract and powder. T4 or TK vanilla has a moisture content from 26 to 30%. The vanillin content is from 1.6 to 2.0 % and the length is from 14cm to 22 cm.

RED:
The Red vanilla or the extraction vanilla beans have a much lower moisture content than Gourmet and it's used by industrials who will extract and transform it in extracts or natural aroma, On the contrary to Gourmet market ( black vanilla ), industrials usually look for a dryer product.There are two types of red vanilla which are the European type red vanilla and the US type red vanilla and the both are intended for industrial products. 
The European Red with a moisture content from 24 to 26%. It is recognizable thanks to some red filaments on the bean and to a reddish color.The vanillin content is from 1.4 to 2.0 % and the length is from 14cm to 22 cm.
The American red looks for a drier quality and inferior moisture content from 18 to 25%. Their colour is red woody.The vanillin content is from 1.4 to 1.8 % and the length is from 14cm to 22 cm.

There are also Short and Cuts vanilla.
Short: They are vanilla in mixed qualities (TK, Red) and size from 11 cm to 13 cm.
Cuts: This quality is defined by short vanilla beans ( under 11cm ), and broken beans.The cuts are used in extraction and food industry. Their moisture content is from 14% to 25%. The vanillin content is from 0.8 to 1.2 %.

The harvest season start on June till end of August. The vanilla preperation take around 3 months or 90 days. To have a prepared black vanilla we need around 5kg of green vanille .

THE PROCESSING OF MADAGASCAR BOURBON VANILLA:

1 - Scalding: This process It consists of filling wicker baskets with freshly harvested green vanilla bourbon and boiling them in water at 65 ° C for 3 minutes where the vanilla bean become softer. In addition, this process allow the development of the aromas and in particular the vanillin which represents 90% of the aromas of the vanilla.

2-Steaming: We place the very hot vanilla bourbon indoors in wooden boxes lined with a blanket then completely close the wooden box for 72 hours. At the end of this step, the vanilla bourbon takes on a brown color and where it lose a good amount of moisture and develop the aromas.

3 - Drying Vanilla drying takes place in 2 stages: sun drying and shade drying. The sun dry process stabilize the vanillin content and humidity level. Sun drying: Vanilla bourbon are spread out on blankets and tables and are exposed to the sun 3 to 5 hours a day for about 10 days before covering them and putting them insides in shelter until the next day, to have a certain humidity level for the aromatic transformation. Drying in the shade: After ten days of sun-drying, the vanilla pods will now be dried in the shade, in ventilated warehouses for 1 to 2 months.

4- Ripening This last step, also called: "putting in a trunk", consists of placing the vanilla pods in a wooden trunk covered with baking paper or better yet: waxed paper. These papers have the effect of protecting them from the outside air and thus preventing them from becoming moldy.

Ripening is the last step in processing vanilla before it can be sorted by category and classification and packaging and marketed.

Sorting vanilla: when the real vanilla, as we like it is ready, we do the sorting according to:
The size of the vanilla bean
The humidity level and its flexibility
The destination (Europe, United States or Asia) requests
The color or quality of the vanilla (black, brown, red )