Page 107 - Port Douglas Magazine 36

Russell & Mary

VANILLA AUSTRALIA
It was hard yards and a healthy dose of trial and error for the salt of
the earth couple who would pack up the camper trailer with eskies of
vanilla, chalkboard, and market stall gear to travel to farmer markets
all over Australia sharing their vanilla essence.
Armed with their old school values and playful charm they would,
before the world wide web, open the phonebook looking for shops
to sell their vanilla. Creating personal connections with the retailers,
many of these stores still carry Vanilla Australia products and Russell
and Mary call them friends.
Russell, with a more laid-back attitude, and Mary who likes to get
things done, work like a well-oiled machine - what one doesn’t do
the other does, sharing the load. Vanilla Australia is truly a family
affair with everyone pitching in including their two children Fallon
and Rory making the hard work fun.
From late nights massaging each pod individually to the exact
moisture content and sorting the beans there is a lot of care and love
as one bad bean can ruin the whole bunch. Like a nice red wine, the
more mature it is, the better it tastes but in the end it’s all worth it.
Mary and Russell have a superior product to show for their labour
of love. It has been scientifically proven that Vanilla Australia beans
boast four times more vanillin content than any other pod.
With a regular stall at both the Mossman markets on Saturdays and
the Sunday Port Douglas markets, you’ll find Russell ready with a
yarn selling their whole pods, organic essence, and a favourite of the
o, what do you do when the Aztec god Montezuma gives you many who have visited, their homemade vanilla ice cream. We are
the choice between cocoa or vanilla? Well, you pick the finest blessed in the far north to be able to enjoy this special treat that will
Sof the flavours, vanilla of course.
change the mind of any chocolate connoisseur to the vanilla way.
That is exactly the choice dynamic duo Russell and Mary Spanton From their humble beginnings, Russell and Mary are living the sweet
made 20 years ago when the pair forged vanilla in Australia, with life in the Douglas Shire happily raising their family in a community
their home-grown business Vanilla Australia.
that they hold dearly for their encouragement and continued support,
Russell, the true-blue Aussie bloke who’s quick with a joke, first met a great community accepting of people from all walks of life.
Mary, a backpacking Scot who’s always ready for a bit of banter, 26
A community they happily call home, a place they wake up every
years ago in a chance encounter at the “Courty”. Russell came up morning grateful to be alive, where walks up the beloved “Bump
to Port for some work and it was Mary’s first night in the seaside Track” instantly makes souls sing, where you cherish your loved
village.
ones and don’t sweat the small stuff.
The two instantly hit it off like a frog in a Scottish kilt hose sock.
As their relationship bloomed it wasn’t until six years later, not long “With the new farm and so much more vanilla wafting
before their children were born, that they happened upon the warm,
dramatic, elegant, and intoxicatingly indulgent vanilla bean. its sweet heady aroma that enjoyably engulfs the senses,
Mary and Russell hope to share this unique experience
Russell and Mary’s start in vanilla is an organic tale, much like their
beans. One day an old-time farmer suggested they should grow by one day offering tours of their plantation.”
something on their land outside Port Douglas that was previously
used to grow the first trial crop of cocoa. Russell, who had been
reading about the Aztec god Montezuma, proclaimed “Let’s grow They started with 55 plants on the first farm but when it came time to
vanilla.” And so, they did! grow the business, they were lucky that a local cane farming family
wanted to help them to expand.
It was a huge learning curve for the vanilla novices. Russell being
a master stonemason by trade and Mary a masseuse, they literally With the new farm and so much more vanilla wafting its sweet
started from the ground up. As true pioneers of the Australian vanilla heady aroma that enjoyably engulfs the senses, Mary and Russell
industry, they are credited as the first ever to grow and manufacture hope to share this unique experience by one day offering tours of
vanilla essence in Australia, but there was no information for them their plantation. Won’t that be an absolutely flavoursome way to
to build from. discover the complex art of the fascinating orchid that is the essence
of the gods.
But with passion and determination in their hearts and the knowledge
that tropical north Queensland has exemplary growing conditions vanilla-australia.com
their true grit would prevail making their vanilla dreams come true.