Vanilla Shortage Could Drive Up Ice Cream Prices

Ice cream lovers, beware: America's favorite dessert could become a luxury item after this year's poor vanilla crop harvest.

Already, the vanilla pod shortage has resulted in some stockpiling and a surge in vanilla prices, according to the Telegraph.

Perhaps worst of all, the shortage could push the price of ice cream up by around 10 percent. Over the past two months, the global price of vanilla jumped from $25 per kilo (2.2 lbs) to between $35 and $40 per kilo, Management Today reports.

"It is the most expensive ingredient in ice cream production per kilogram, so it is highly likely that some producers will not be able to absorb the extra cost," Nick Peska, business development director at Mintec told Management Today.

A bulk of the world's vanilla is grown in Madagascar, Indonesia, India and Mexico, with the latter two countries having seen a drop in production over the past year, according to the Daily Mail.

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, ice cream and other frozen desserts are consumed by more than 90 percent of households in the United States.