Black vanilla
Vanilla planifolia is a climbing vine. Its aerial roots grip a living tree — the tutor — which supports it and protects it from direct sunlight.
Without a living tutor, no vanilla. The choice of tree determines, years later, the aromatic richness of the bean.
A demanding climbing orchid
In 1841, on Réunion Island, a young enslaved boy named Edmond Albius — he was twelve years old — invented hand pollination. A precise gesture, with a fine bamboo point, taking less than five seconds per flower. Without this technique invented outside the vine’s native ecosystem, no Bourbon vanilla anywhere in the world.
The vine begins producing after three years and reaches optimal yield between the fifth and tenth year. On our Virembina and Nosy Be plots, a well-tended vine produces between 800 g and 1.2 kg of cured beans per season — the equivalent of two hundred to three hundred hand-pollinated flowers by the same worker, one after the other, during the November-January flowering window.
A few hours to make it happen
A flower opens only once in its life, in the morning, and closes before nightfall. If it is not pollinated, it falls.
Opening
The greenish-yellow flower opens at dawn. It has less than 24 hours to live.
Hand pollination
The pollinator lifts the membrane that separates the anther and stigma with a bamboo point, then presses to bring the gametes into contact.
Closing
The flower closes. If pollinated, it stays attached. Otherwise, it falls the next day.
Ripening
The green pod grows, matures and reaches its final size (15-22 cm) before harvest.
Vanillin and everything else
Vanillin is the signature molecule, but a genuine vanilla contains more than three hundred others. This complexity distinguishes natural from synthetic.
A Grade A pod from SAVA contains on average between 2.2 and 2.6% vanillin by mass. This is the main phenolic aldehyde that provides the fragrance. But a chromatographic analysis of a natural bean reveals a signature spectrum with hundreds of secondary compounds: guaiacol, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, anisyl alcohol, aromatic esters. It is this complex profile — impossible to reproduce industrially — that a trained pastry chef recognises blind.
On an industrial scale, natural vanillin represents less than 1% of the global « vanilla flavour » market. The price gap is between 1 and 200. That is precisely why distinguishing the two matters commercially — and why traceability by batch, by village, sometimes by vine, is a competitive advantage for those who source it.
Samples offered from 5 kg, delivered to mainland France within 4 days.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called « Bourbon » vanilla?
It is a geographical appellation, not a variety. It refers to vanilla produced in the former Bourbon islands of the Indian Ocean: Madagascar, Réunion, Mauritius, Comoros. The botanical variety used is Vanilla planifolia.
Why is Madagascar vanilla so expensive?
Three factors: hand pollination flower by flower (there is no natural pollinator outside its native ecosystem), the nine-month post-harvest processing (blanching, sweating, drying, ageing), and market volatility linked to cyclones, harvest quality and speculation on green vanilla stocks.
What is the difference between Grade A and Grade B?
Grade A (also called Gourmet) refers to whole, supple, non-split beans, 14 to 20 cm long, with 30-38% residual moisture. Grade B (TK, Top Kitchen) covers shorter beans (12-14 cm) or split pods, intended for extraction and industrial pastry-making. Same botanical variety, same origin, different aromatic yield.
How can I recognise real Madagascar vanilla?
A genuine cured bean is dark brown to black, supple (you can wrap it around a finger without breaking it), oily to the touch, with a straight or barely curved shape. A powerful vanillin-forward but complex aroma. Beware of dried beans with white crystals: these are frost crystals of natural vanillin, a sign of quality — not mould. In case of doubt, contact us for a comparison sample.
Order Bourbon vanilla
Mahomby Export supplies Bourbon vanilla directly from our own plots and 35 partner farming families in Virembina and Nosy Be (Antalaha municipality, SAVA region). Whole beans Grade A / Grade B, powder, caviar, Vanilla Seed.
- 📧 Contact form — quote within 48 hours
- 📱 France representative: Thibault Fiamma — +33 6 13 15 09 36
- 🌐 Wholesale platform: grossistevanillemadagascar.com