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.