Vanilla Paradise Nevis hosts Swiss Ambassador Rita Hämmerli-Weschke

St Kitts and Nevis: The first Vanilla Farm in St Kitts and Nevis named ‘Vanilla Paradise Nevis’ had the honour of hosting a truly distinguished guest - Rita Hämmerli-Weschke, the Swiss Ambassador to St Kitts and Nevis.

While sharing glimpses of the Ambassador at the farm through their official Facebook account, Vanilla Paradise Nevis noted, “At Vanilla Paradise Nevis, we pride ourselves on treating every visitor like a VIP. Recently, we had the honor of hosting a truly distinguished guest: Her Excellency Rita Hämmerli-Weschke, the Swiss Ambassador to St Kitts and Nevis.”

According to the information, Ambassador Hämmerli-Weschke was particularly interest in meeting Swiss nationals and to know about their businesses in the regions where she has diplomatic responsibilities.

These regions include Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, as well as St. Kitts and Nevis.

The founder of the farm, Gina Empson is also Swiss so it was an opportunity to showcase the 1500 beautiful vanilla orchid vines that are flourishing on the farm and what the farm has accomplished with the invaluable support and ingenuity of the local Nevisian community. 

Not only this, but the Ambassador was also able to visit the Alexandra Hospital with Gina’s partner, Dr Patrick Meredith, another Swiss national. Switzerland recently donated material to the hospital.

The owner also expressed their gratitude to the Swiss Ambassador while saying, “We extend our thanks to Her Excellency for her visit. We look forward to the possibility of hosting her again in the future, allowing her to witness our continued growth and progress firsthand!”

The arrival of Ambassador Rita Hämmerli-Weschke marks a huge milestone for the Vanilla Paradise Nevis as it showcases that the farm and its work is being noticed by people across the world. 

This first and only organic and sustainable farm on the island of Nevis is doing all efforts to produce vanilla locally and to export it to sister islands in the near future. 

Thompson said that she chose Nevis to grow Vanilla as it boasts the perfect environment and soil conditions for the seed to grow and thrive.