About
About Us
A story of Dedication and Excellence
With a solid foundation in sustainable agricultural practices and an unwavering commitment to quality, we have grown to be a benchmark in the vanilla industry. Our products, in addition to meeting the highest international standards such as the Denomination of Origin “Vainilla de Papantla”, OU Kosher and Global Markets Program certifications, also bear the seal of our love for the land and the community. Get to know us and discover why Zanilli is synonymous with excellence in vanilla
Zanilli, which in the Nahuatl language means “Legend”, is the consolidation of a family business founded in 2002 in the city of Gutiérrez Zamora, Veracruz Mexico. This company was born with the purpose of producing Mexican Vanilla Planifolia using the best cultivation practices to obtain vanilla of excellent quality, process it, and distribute it worldwide.
Produce and distribute Mexican Vanilla Extract of excellent quality, bringing the authentic and original flavor of vanilla to the entire world.
To be the most prestigious producers and distributors of Mexican Vanilla Extract in Mexico.
At Zanilli the most important thing is our values, since they are the guide of our daily work: Quality, Integrity, Innovation, Service, Social Responsibility and Human Commitment.
Certifications
Our Certifications
Committed to excellence, Zanilli has earned the Appellation of Origin “Vanilla de Papantla” from the Mexican Federal Government. This prestigious certification assures the authenticity and quality of our vanilla, confirming it is grown and produced in Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico, where vanilla has its worldwide origin.
Kosher Certified
Global Market Programme
Granting of Denomination of Origin
SQF (2025)
Value added
More than a flavor, an Experience
Zanilli delivers the true essence of vanilla, upholding rigorous standards of quality, safety, and purity in line with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) guidelines.
- Denomination of Origin Vanilla from Papantla
- OU Kosher
- Global Markets Programme (Intermedio)
- SQF v 9.0 (2025)
Vanilla
Legend
At the summit of one of the highest mountains near Papantla, Tonacayohua had its temple, “the goddess who took care of the sowing, the corn and the food”, whose dressing and rites were in charge of 12 young nobles who since they were children were especially dedicated to her and that they took a vow of chastity for life.
In the time of King Teniztli, third of the Totonac dynasty, one of his wives had a girl, who because of her singular beauty was given the name “Tzacopontziza” which is equivalent to “Morning Star”; and not wanting anyone to enjoy her beauty, she was consecrated to the cult of Tonacayohua.
But a young prince called “Zkatan-oxga” (the Young Deer), fell in love with her, and even though he knew that such sacrilege was punishable by slaughter, one day when “Morning Star” left the temple to collect some turtledoves. that she had caught to offer them to the goddess, her lover kidnapped her and fled with her to the steepest part of the mountain.
But they had not walked far when a terrifying monster appeared to them, enveloping them both in waves of fire, forcing them to retreat quickly. When they reached the road, the priests were already waiting for them angrily, and before Zkatán could say a word, he was beheaded with a single blow and the same fate befell the princess. Her bodies were taken while still hot to the shrine, where after extracting the hearts that were placed in the votives of the goddess’s altar, they were thrown into a ravine.
More in the place where they were sacrificed, the small grass began to dry as if the blood of the two victims scattered there had a malefic influence. A few months later a bush began to sprout that prodigiously, in a few days it rose several feet from the ground and was covered with thick foliage.
When the tree reached its full growth, a climbing orchid began to grow next to its stem, which, also with astonishing speed, cast its emerald guides over the trunk of the bush, with such strength and delicacy at the same time, that they looked like the arms of a tree. a woman.
The hot sun of the tropics barely penetrated the fronds of the bush, under whose protection the orchid developed like a bride resting in the bosom of her lover. And one morning it was covered with minimal flowers and the whole place was flooded with ineffable aromas.
Attracted by such a prodigy, the priests and the people did not doubt since the blood of the two princes had been transformed into a bush and orchid; and his astonishment increased when the fragrant little flowers turned into long, thin pods that, when ripe, gave off their even more penetrating perfume, as if the innocent soul of “Morning Star” removed the most exquisite fragrances from him.
The orchid was the object of reverent worship, it was declared a sacred plant and was raised as a divine offering to the Totonac shrines; Thus, from the blood of a princess, vanilla was born, which in Totonaco is called “xanath” (recond flower) and in Aztec “tlilxóchitl” (black flower).
Legend
At the summit of one of the highest mountains near Papantla, Tonacayohua had its temple, “the goddess who took care of the sowing, the corn and the food”, whose dressing and rites were in charge of 12 young nobles who since they were children were especially dedicated to her and that they took a vow of chastity for life.
In the time of King Teniztli, third of the Totonac dynasty, one of his wives had a girl, who because of her singular beauty was given the name “Tzacopontziza” which is equivalent to “Morning Star”; and not wanting anyone to enjoy her beauty, she was consecrated to the cult of Tonacayohua.
But a young prince called “Zkatan-oxga” (the Young Deer), fell in love with her, and even though he knew that such sacrilege was punishable by slaughter, one day when “Morning Star” left the temple to collect some turtledoves. that she had caught to offer them to the goddess, her lover kidnapped her and fled with her to the steepest part of the mountain.
But they had not walked far when a terrifying monster appeared to them, enveloping them both in waves of fire, forcing them to retreat quickly. When they reached the road, the priests were already waiting for them angrily, and before Zkatán could say a word, he was beheaded with a single blow and the same fate befell the princess. Her bodies were taken while still hot to the shrine, where after extracting the hearts that were placed in the votives of the goddess’s altar, they were thrown into a ravine.
More in the place where they were sacrificed, the small grass began to dry as if the blood of the two victims scattered there had a malefic influence. A few months later a bush began to sprout that prodigiously, in a few days it rose several feet from the ground and was covered with thick foliage.
When the tree reached its full growth, a climbing orchid began to grow next to its stem, which, also with astonishing speed, cast its emerald guides over the trunk of the bush, with such strength and delicacy at the same time, that they looked like the arms of a tree. a woman.
The hot sun of the tropics barely penetrated the fronds of the bush, under whose protection the orchid developed like a bride resting in the bosom of her lover. And one morning it was covered with minimal flowers and the whole place was flooded with ineffable aromas.
Attracted by such a prodigy, the priests and the people did not doubt since the blood of the two princes had been transformed into a bush and orchid; and his astonishment increased when the fragrant little flowers turned into long, thin pods that, when ripe, gave off their even more penetrating perfume, as if the innocent soul of “Morning Star” removed the most exquisite fragrances from him.
The orchid was the object of reverent worship, it was declared a sacred plant and was raised as a divine offering to the Totonac shrines; Thus, from the blood of a princess, vanilla was born, which in Totonaco is called “xanath” (recond flower) and in Aztec “tlilxóchitl” (black flower).
History
Vanilla is an important part of the history of Mexico, it has brought its aroma and flavor to the whole world from the ancient lands of Totonacapan in the State of Veracruz, Mexico.
Knowledge about vanilla is a heritage left by the Totonacos, who have occupied the Mexican region of Papantla and its surroundings for more than a thousand years.
It began in the reign of Itzcóatl (1427-1440), he called it “tlixochitl” (black flower) and among the Totonacs xanath. The Aztecs used vanilla to flavor a drink called Xocolatl prepared with vanilla and cocoa.
Hernán Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlán in 1519 and was received by Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin.
At the first banquet that was served to them, Bernal Díaz, a soldier under Cortés’ command, noticed that the emperor was enjoying a drink that was only served to him and the great figures of the court. When asking a servant (Tlahuilli) he told him that it was the drink of the gods prepared with Tlilxóchitl and Cacaotl. Moctezuma noticed the interest and ordered it to be served to the Spaniards, who asked to know the exotic fruits from which it was made. Great was his astonishment when he knew that those black wands were the ones that gave the delicious drink such a subtle perfume.
In 1520, news of a new spice reached Spain, without knowing its place of origin.
In the year 1532, Fray Bernardino De Sahagún began research on the therapeutic properties of vanilla, discovering that it was of great help to digestion.
In 1610, the famous vanilla became known in England, since the English pirate Drake, upon capturing a Spanish galleon, discovered a package for the King of Spain containing some scented wands, which was delivered to Queen Elizabeth, who passed them on to his royal physician Hugh Morgan to be studied. Morgan baptized them with the name “LOBUS AROMATICUS”; At that time no one knew its origin, nature, or properties.
King Philip II of Spain sent his family doctor Francisco Hernández on a study trip to these lands to clarify certain mysteries of vanilla. In 1651, the work of Dr. Hernández was published in Rome and in it vanilla is called “ARACO AROMATICUS”.
For almost three centuries the only producer of vanilla was Mexico. In the 18th century, vanilla was brought for production in greenhouses in Europe and in tropical lands of European colonies. In 1730 there was success in its development and flowering but the plant did not bear fruit in those latitudes, which I rumor never did.
would bear fruit in areas other than the Totonacapan region of Mexico and cultivated by the indigenous Totonacas.
It was not until 1836 that the botanist Charles Morren in the botanical garden of Leyden in Belgium, solved the mystery by verifying that the vanilla orchid is a Hermaphrodite flower that requires manual pollination or help through bees (melipona), ants or other insects to bear fruit (it is the only orchid that produces fruit, of the more than 35,000 species).
In 1841 a slave Edmund Albius from the French island of Bourbon (now Réunion) perfected the method of manual pollination. From then on, all countries with possessions in tropical areas were planting vanilla, the Dutch in Java, in 1841, the French, Madagascar in 1842, Tahiti in 1848, and the Comoros Islands in 1873; the English in 1890 to the Mauritius islands and the Seychelles, and the Americans to Puerto Rico in 1900.
After losing the world monopoly on Vanilla, Mexico began to decline its production and began to occupy first place in competition with Madagascar; Mexico currently occupies last place in world production, although there was a time when the economy of the entire region revolved around vanilla.
Paradoxically, the large productions of “Tlilxochilt (black flower)” are not located in any territory close to the site of origin, the Totonacapan region; However, as time has progressed, the history of vanilla and its harvests have had, and will continue to have, very drastic turns.
Vanilla Quality
