In November 2011 nei was established as a social enterprise committed to accelerating the economic development of smallholder farmers. During a work sabbatical in Tanzania, financial services expert Juan noticed that many people depended on agriculture but often grew low-value crops like corn. Keen to find a way to increase value for farmers while also respecting the environment and soil, he started exploring vanilla – which seemed like an ideal crop with high export value and customers looking to expand their geographical sourcing’ instead of ‘diversify beyond Madagascar. And so, nei was born in partnership with around 30 local farmers.