Rodelle tastes sweet success

FORT COLLINS — Vanilla extract producer Rodelle Inc. is marking 80 years of business, with no signs of slowing down.

The firm was started in 1936, when the Rodelle family moved to Denver from the south of France. Unable to find suitable vanilla extract for their baking needs, family members solved the problem themselves by opening Rodelle Laboratories. Initially a wholesale producer, the company was sold in 1984 and moved to Fort Collins, where it began supplying extract for the retail market as well.

Now, according to marketing manager Jenna Baker, Rodelle is one of the…