Trend for vanilla extracts instead of vanilla flavourings

Since 1 January 2021, only natural organic flavouring components and organic carriers can be used in organic products. Numerous food producers are responding to customers’ preferences for ingredients that are as natural as possible even outside of the organic market. They have removed vanilla flavourings from their recipes and switched to vanilla pods or vanilla extracts instead.

What is the difference between vanilla flavouring and vanilla extract?
“Vanilla extract” contains only flavouring preparations obtained from vanilla pods. For “natural vanilla flavouring”, at least 95%“must be obtained from vanilla, and the remaining 5% can be made up of off-flavours for standardisation or to give a particular note to the flavouring. “Vanilla flavouring” does not have to be obtained from vanilla pods and is a chemically produced synthetic product. Synthetic “vanillin” differs from natural vanillin on account of the source materials and production processes involved.

Production of vanilla extracts
Our vanilla extracts are based on high-quality Bourbon vanilla pods from our project in the UNESCO Mananara Biosphere Reserve in Madagascar. Following a meticulous incoming goods inspection, the raw, unprocessed vanilla pods are cut to a length of 1 to 3 cm. The extraction process is then carried out with the help of organic ethanol. The extraction solvent absorbs all the flavours of the vanilla pods over a period of around 24 to 72 hours. Following the extraction process, the pods are filtered out, and cans with a volume of up to 20 litres are filled with the extract. Our extracts are 100% natural and can therefore be referred to as “natural vanilla flavourings” or “natural vanilla extracts”.

How are the vanilla extracts used?
Our vanilla extracts are used in particular to flavour dairy products and beverages and are also used to refine chocolates, teas and desserts including sauces, creams, puddings, icings and ice creams. They are often used in the cosmetics industry as a scent in fragrances, soaps and creams.

Different vanilla extracts are used depending on the processing and end product involved:

• Organic Bourbon vanilla extract VEX0.5 with a vanillin content of 0.5% boasts a very consistent flavour and scent profile and is therefore perfect for large-scale industrial production, for example, of dairy products or ice cream.
• Fewer pods are used for organic Bourbon vanilla extract 2, making it an inexpensive alternative (200 g of cut pods in 1 litre of organic ethanol).
• We can also produce highly concentrated organic Bourbon vanilla extract VEX 10 fold (1,000 g of pods in 1 litre of extraction solvent) upon request.
• Liquid vanilla extract is also sprayed onto the carrier maltodextrin for producing organic vanilla extract powder. The powder dissolves easily in liquids and doesn’t alter the colour of the end product and is therefore increasingly being used, for example, in dairy alternatives.
• Our organic Bourbon vanilla extract with invert sugar is a de-alcoholised vanilla extract with an invert sugar base. It has the advantage of being highly convenient and particularly easy to dispense in the production process.

We would be more than happy to advise you on which extract would be best for your food production processes.