Spent

What is spent vanilla?

Spent, or exhausted, vanilla is what remains of the bean once its flavour has been extracted. The conventional route to vanilla extract percolates beans with aqueous ethanol for 48 to 72 hours before the extract is concentrated¹. The fibres and seeds left behind have given up most of their aroma but keep the look of real vanilla, so food makers use them as a visual marker: the black specks consumers associate with vanilla.

The practice is well established. A French vanilla house adds exhausted seeds to its extract "to please the eye"², and published extract specifications list spent seeds, at about 1% in one case^3,4. Dried seeds sifted from extracted pods have a milder aroma than fresh pods and are used mainly to show that real vanilla went into the recipe⁵.

Three spent vanilla products

• Exhausted Powder: a light brown powder of red vanilla beans after extraction, 600 µm, residual moisture below 8%, in heat-sealed bags of 10, 20 or 25 kg.
• Dresh Powder: a brown powder made from 100% upcycled vanilla products (cuts, beans, fibres), 600 µm, moisture up to 8%, for bakery products and industrial blends, in bags of 5 to 25 kg.
• Spent Seeds: deep black Vanilla planifolia seeds collected during extraction, 300 µm grain, 5% humidity, in waxed cartons of 10, 20 or 25 kg.

Applications and dosage

Pastry creams, ice creams and dairy desserts, bakery products and industrial blends. For marking with Spent Seeds, our product sheet suggests 1 to 2 g/L in creams and liquid preparations, 2 to 3 g/kg in pastries and 2 to 4 g/L in ice creams. Check the visual result on your line, then plan annual needs with the formulation simulator.

Where the raw material comes from

Extraction and pastry do not use the same beans. At grading, drier pods and pods with visual defects go to extraction as red vanilla, while deep black, supple pods form gourmet lots⁶. Our Exhausted Powder is made from those red extraction beans once their flavour has been extracted, and Dresh Powder from upcycled cuts, beans and fibres: the bean finds a second use instead of being discarded.

Labelling: a marker, not a flavouring

Spent vanilla brings appearance, not the vanilla taste of your product. The flavour, and any "natural vanilla" wording, must come from the flavouring in your recipe: in the EU, "natural vanilla flavouring" may only be used when at least 95% of the flavouring component comes from vanilla⁷. Have your regulatory team check each market; our guide to natural vanilla flavouring labelling in the EU and the US sets out the main rules.

Specifications and ordering

• Particle or grain size, residual moisture and colour are stated on each product sheet; ask for the certificate of analysis of your lot.
• Store at +12 °C to +19 °C, closed, away from air, light and other spices; shelf life 12 to 24 months.
• Minimum order: 50 kg per order, on quotation, with samples on request.