Vanilla planifolia
Origin: Madagascar
Family: Orchidacea
Part used: Seed pod
Vanilla is one of those ingredients that people think they know.
It's in everything - biscuits, ice cream, perfume, candles. It's so familiar that it's almost invisible. And that, honestly, is a shame. Because real vanilla, properly grown, properly cured, from the right place, is one of the most complex and extraordinary ingredients in the world. It just gets drowned out by imitation.
We don't use imitation anything and when it came to vanilla, we went looking for the best we could find.
What we found was the Comoros Islands.
The Moon Islands
The Comoros are a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean, nestled between Madagascar and the east coast of Africa. They are called the "Moon Islands" - the name comes from their crescent shape, and it suits them. Remote, fertile, a little mysterious. The volcanic soil and tropical climate produce vanilla of extraordinary quality, a flavour profile with notes of caramel, figs, berries and delicate floral tones that is quite different from the more familiar Madagascar vanilla most people have tasted.
How it's grown and cured
Every bean is grown, harvested and prepared by hand - bean by bean - by skilled farmers across the Comoros Islands using methods that haven't changed much since the 1930s.
The orchid flower that produces the vanilla pod lasts less than a day. It must be pollinated by hand - a technique invented in 1841 by a 12-year-old boy named Edmond Albius. Each flower, each bean, each harvest, entirely human, entirely careful.
After harvest, the beans are briefly dipped in boiling water to stop sprouting and begin the curing process, a technique called échaudage. They are then wrapped in wool blankets and placed in wooden boxes to sweat overnight, étuvage. From there, a slow drying process over many weeks develops the deep, complex flavour that makes these beans so extraordinary.
No shortcuts. No chemistry. Just time and skill and knowledge passed through generations.
Where you'll taste it at Pretty Fancy Chocolate
Comoros Islands vanilla runs through our range like a quiet constant - present in almost everything we make, lifting flavour and adding a depth that synthetic vanilla simply cannot replicate.
The Vanilla Chocolate Fancy Comoros Islands vanilla bean marshmallow, butter shortbread crunch, Vanuatu 72% dark chocolate. The Fancy that lets the vanilla speak for itself.
The Peanut Chocolate Fancy Comoros Islands vanilla bean marshmallow, deep amber salted caramel, salted peanut gianduja crunch, Vanuatu 72% dark. The vanilla here is the quiet backbone - present without announcing itself.
Vanilla Bean Marshmallow Our classic - soft, pillowy, and fragrant with real vanilla bean. The one that made people ask what we were doing differently.
Salted Vanilla Bonbon - You're a Star collection (Silver, NZ Artisan Awards 2024 & 2025) A rich, buttery caramel infused with Comoros Islands vanilla, finished with Opito Bay Salt. Two award-winning NZ producers in one bonbon.
Throughout our bonbon range Vanilla bean appears across many of our caramels and fillings - sometimes named, often quietly present, always making things taste better.
Pretty Fancy Chocolate is made in small batches in our kitchen in Muriwai Beach, Auckland. We choose every ingredient with intention, because what goes in matters.
Explore Luna Vanilla at www.lunavanilla.com.au