@Purplelibraryguy Oooh yeah that makes sense. That does explain why the price went up (as far as I can tell anyways. I only buy vanilla like once a year). Besides that, vanilla is a difficult crop to grow, so if it weren't such a staple item, I imagine it would have been way more expensive way earlier. Though, that's a lot of food... Well, there's always synthetic vanilla, which people are used to, but that does break the "all natural ingredients" goal a lot of companies are striving for now.
btw, hot tip for all potential bakers, cooks, gastronomists, if you put too much vanilla in something, it makes the smell of vanilla really overpowering and might make your dish kind of bitter (basically, nothing positive for your dish. The best result would be if nothing changes whether you add more vanilla or use the suggested amount). If vanilla extract weren't so expensive, I'd imagine vanilla shots would be the hip new online challenge