Andy and Sara Kubiak knew they wanted something different. In their early 50s, the couple wanted to pursue a passion project that would leave a lasting impact. With Andy’s background in food science and Sara’s in communications, they knew they wanted to incorporate sustainability in whatever they decided to pursue.

The niche they picked? Vanilla.

“We fell in love with vanilla,” Sara said. “We started the Vanilla Bean Project because we want to change the world, and our mission has always been to make vanilla better for people and the planet.”

The Kubiaks founded the Lakeland-based Vanilla Bean Project in 2018 and will soon begin sending their products across the Atlantic Ocean from France to New York on a wind cargo sailboat.

Most vanilla extract manufactures use container ships and planes to transport vanilla beans from Madagascar. But the couple says they have found a more sustainable way to ship these products by using wind-powered cargo sailboats for the beans’ journey from France to New York.

Enter Grain de Sail, a St. Malo, a French company focused on reducing carbon released by traditional cargo shipments through wind-powered sailboats. The Kubiaks met with the founders of Grain de Sail and loved their mission, deciding to work together to ship their product from Europe to the U.S. through a letter of intent with the company.

The couple says wind-powered boats will help them curb their company’s “Scope 3” emissions, that is, greenhouse gas emissions that don’t directly stem from a company’s operations but from anywhere along its supply chain. Sara estimates that the move will enable the Vanilla Project to cut Tier 3 emissions by as much as 90%. The Vanilla Bean Project’s first shipment with Grain de Sail is set to depart France on April 5.

“We anticipate wind powered and lowest carbon shipping will be adopted by others in the North American vanilla trade – we are the leaders today,” Andy says. “We offer a new choice, and so far people love our product and solution using sail cargo and the power of nature.”

Andy hopes that by making a concerted effort to curb emissions, his company is setting an example for others to follow.

“If we can do it with five employees, then we know progress is possible on a much larger scale across the entire food chain,” said Andy, who previously founded and ran organic food supplier Superior Natural Foods.

Still, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs unveiled this week, it’s a tough time to work in international trade. Businesses that import goods from Madagascar face a tariff rate of 47%. Andy acknowledges that the move “may impact our raw material prices adversely,” but, on the whole of it, he’s not worried.

“Time will tell if these tariffs remain or are associated/tied to vanilla,” he says. “I have been in food and agriculture for 25 years. It’s always been a good place to be to avoid the highs and lows – it’s steady, and people will always keep eating.”

Andy notes that 80% of commercial vanilla beans are grown in Madagascar, and the couple has worked with distributors and traders to source their beans. The Project also has strategic partners who help directly import vanilla beans by the metric ton to Minnesota.

Andy says that his team of just five employees is the right size for his company’s ambitious goals.

When the couple first started the project, they didn’t have any experience in manufacturing and had to teach themselves how to make their products. Sara said they took this process one step at a time. Andy jokes if they had known what they were getting into, they wouldn’t have started the project but have loved the learning they’ve learned along the way.

Sara says vanilla isn’t something people think about often, but her goals to get people to understand why it’s important to the world.

“Our biggest challenge and our biggest opportunity is that we make vanilla,” Sara says. “The opportunity is vanilla is in everything, and the challenge is to get people excited about it.”

Now, the Vanilla Bean Project sells their products to several local coffee shops and bakeries, Sara says, including Café Latte. The company also sells If their products in bulk on their website and on Amazon.

Andy and Sara have been married for 22 years, working together for the last seven on The Vanilla Bean Project. Andy said it wasn’t easy at first to manage their business and their relationship, but they got to a point where they were “too busy to let that tension stand in the way.” He said he and his wife have different skill sets that complement each other.

When they first started, the Kubiaks’ daughter drew a sign that said “Mom + Dad = Vanilla Bean Project.” Sara says that’s been an inspiration to keep the work going.