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Nebraskan’s vanilla business is flourishing — and helping farmers back home
GRAND ISLAND — Fouad Mhadji Issa looks to his adopted home of Nebraska when searching for a comparison to describe the role of vanilla in his home country of Comoros.
“Vanilla is farmed widely in Comoros,” he says, “like corn is in Nebraska.”
The marriage of those two disparate places lies at the heart of Issa’s business, Koponi Vanilla. The company launched in Grand Island four years ago selling vanilla extract and has since expanded to sell coffee, syrups and body oils — all of it infused with vanilla sourced from Comoros, an island nation off Africa’s southeast coast.
The business has gradually built a following in the Grand Island area and beyond, which recently led Issa to move into a larger space. Like many small business owners, Issa has had to learn and make sacrifices along the way.
Excruciatingly long days and being away from his wife and kids, who live in France, top the list. But the sacrifices are worth it, Issa says. Though the business is still in its infancy and profits are slim, it’s already achieving Issa’s goal: Creating opportunity for people in his home country.
“I need to help those vanilla farmers gain that sustainability and help their farms grow to be able to pass down to the next generation and so on,” he said.
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Issa grew up in a large, upper-middleclass family with five siblings. His father built a comfortable life by growing his vanilla farm into a thriving business.
“My dad did well, and we always had money for the eight of us to take family vacations all over the world. We had cars and things nicer than most others in our area had,” he said.
A cousin in Tennessee told Issa he would be better off if he attended college in the U.S. With some help from his dad, he headed to Tennessee. He was interested in aviation and eventually found Western Nebraska Community College in Sidney. The school’s aviation maintenance program has a solid reputation nationally.
He enrolled in classes in 2009 and met Dillon Tagtmeyer, who grew up nearby in Chappell. Tagtmeyer said the two connected immediately. They started hanging out all the time. Issa started tagging along with Tagtmeyer on trips back to Chappell.
“It was like from day one, we were just buddies,” Tagtmeyer said, “and then it turned into more of a family.”
Issa moved back to Comoros after earning his associate’s degree. He started brainstorming what he could do. That’s when the idea came to him: vanilla. He latched onto the idea, recognizing it would be an opportunity to help people in Comoros.
“Growing up in Comoros, my parents gave away land to house public schools and other public places to help the community thrive,” he said. “They also gave land to other people to allow them to farm and have a stable business for their families to run for generations.”
He moved to France and started creating vanilla extract using vanilla from Comoros. While there, he got married and started a family. But the business struggled. Then he learned how much vanilla is consumed in America and quickly realized he needed to make a change.
Though they stayed in touch, Tagtmeyer said he and Issa had not seen each other for about eight years by the time 2019 rolled around. Tagtmeyer was living in the Grand Island area and flying back into Omaha from his honeymoon when he heard from his friend, who happened to be in Omaha.
The two met up, and Issa told Tagtmeyer about his dream — and how much he missed Nebraska.
“He fell in love with the people and how welcoming everyone was, and (he) just felt like it was home,” Tagtmeyer said.
He suggested Issa move to Grand Island and try to launch his business there. Issa took his friend’s advice. He lived with Tagtmayer while he worked numerous side jobs to save money to start his business in those early days.
In April 2021, Issa had a meeting with the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. Mary Berlie, the group’s president, recalled Issa came into that initial meeting with an entrepreneurial spirit and a lofty dream, but he didn’t quite know how to connect the dots. She and others offered to help him connect those dots.
“He was just a sponge for information and guidance,” Berlie said.
The meeting proved pivotal for Issa. “After just one hour of chatting with (the economic development officials), I decided to … pursue my dream about this business,” he said.
*** Issa continued to work multiple jobs to support his family, pouring anything extra into his new business. He said the hours were hellacious.
“I would start one job at 6 a.m. and get off that last job at midnight then work on Koponi stuff until about 3 a.m. then sleep for a couple hours and do it all over again,” he said.
“I cried many times and thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Still, he didn’t have the assets or credit history necessary to secure a loan from a traditional lender. Then he found the Center for Rural Affairs, which offered him financial training and ultimately a loan to jump start his business.
Issa officially opened for business in 2022 and soon realized there were opportunities beyond just simply selling vanilla extract.
“People would ask, ‘Do you have vanilla this or that?’” he said. “So, I learned to process other vanilla items to fit my clients’ needs.”
Grand Island locals were quick to jump aboard the Koponi bandwagon.
“I have bought the vanilla extract from the first time I knew about it after he opened,” said customer Paulette Kent of Grand Island.
Kent uses the extract for baking. She said she makes everything from scratch — no cake mixes — so authentic taste is important. “This is more of a natural flavor,” she said.
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From product development to creation, labeling, packaging, marketing and even selling, Koponi Vanilla has always been a one-man operation, with one exception.
He managed to bring his family from France to Grand Island several years ago. When the kids weren’t in school, they helped Dad with the business, including selling Koponi products at area farmers markets. Issa said they gained a greater understanding of what their dad does — and why he does it.
Recently, though, his wife and kids made the decision to move back to France.
“My wife is from there and is a nurse. The education system is a little different, so the kids are going to school there now,” Issa said.
He and the kids talk on the phone at the same time everyday. They miss him and helping with the business, he said.
Being away from his family is hard. Issa said he reminds himself why he is doing this.
“I am able to help so many people, and I did this all by myself,” he said. “It really means more to me that way.”
His homeland looms large, even when he’s nearly 9,000 miles away. His business’ name is derived from the Swahili word kukopa, meaning to borrow.
Issa flies to Comoros Island to get the vanilla himself. He transports it back to Nebraska in suitcases.
He is hoping to continue growing the business in 2026. He recently moved into a larger space in the popular Railside district in downtown Grand Island.
“I have a couple goals for 2026,” he said, “to add a couple other new products and to increase my staff to more than just me.”
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
