About Us

Vanillaetc was founded in 2011 by former chef Graham Bruce.

“I started cooking in my parent’s pub, back in the 60’s – a gastro pub before its time. It was my mum that first got me hooked on cooking – she was an amazing pastry chef.  My lifelong love of vanilla started with a bite of one of her heavenly vanilla meringues and a slurp of her to-die-for custard.

For over 40 years I worked in the kitchens of some great gastro pubs and restaurants around Kent.

Over time I realised that not only were my favourite dishes always sweet, but they also almost always contained vanilla.  The Chanel No. 5 of the spice world, Bourbon Vanilla inspired my signature dishes – Vanilla Pannacotta, Crème Brule, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Classic Crème Anglaise, Baked Vanilla Cheesecake and hand-made ‘Vanillicious’ ice cream.

Throughout my career, I found it hard to source high quality vanilla products in the UK.  This was a big source of frustration for me, and so, after finally tiring of the antisocial lifestyle of being a professional chef, I set up Vanillaetc to import high quality vanilla products to the UK.

In 2018 my eldest Daughter Alexandra joined the business and Natalie the youngest joined soon after in 2019. The business has been growing organically from the beginning and as a family we are excited for what the future of Vanillaetc holds.