Vanillin naturally occurs in vanilla beans. But, we can also make vanillin without using a single bean. Over the years, manufacturers have found several ways to do so. Since growing and processing vanilla beans is an expensive endeavour, vanillin made in alternative ways is generally a lot cheaper. What’s more, we currently wouldn’t be able to grow enough vanilla beans to meet the world’s demand for vanilla flavors!

http://www.chinafooding.com/Vanillin