Pâtisseries Gourmandes has an appetite – Loudéac

“It is clear from the market: the consumer attaches more and more importance to recyclability. Nine out of ten French people find that there is too much packaging, it becomes a real requirement to reduce their impact. Finding flexible packaging that protects the product, allows its conservation and storage while being recyclable, this is the mountain that Charlotte Hache and the Pâtisseries Gourmandes marketing department have tackled.

Because if the reduction of plastic is a major stake, the company of the Roullier Group cannot, today, do without it completely. Research has led to a bag made of 67% paper, “from sustainably managed forests”, which is 100% recyclable.

Towards all recyclable in 2025

These new packaging are already on the market with the products of the Ker Cadélac Kids range. “We reduce the total amount of plastic by 73%, which represents 21 tons of plastic less per year on this range,” notes the marketing manager. No more plastic cookie refills, replaced by cardboard trays. And all the products of the company’s five brands, including Ker Cadélac and Le Guillou, will be there.

“Today is a start. We have set ourselves very ambitious goals in this area. We want all of our packaging to be recyclable by 2025, ”announces Mohammed El Gerssifi, Marketing, Innovation and Quality Director of Pâtisseries Gourmandes. “This is a gesture the company is making in favor of the environment but also in response to consumer expectations,” adds Charlotte Hache.

This research on recycling is part of “a more global strategy of continuous product improvement”. An initiative aimed at “consolidating and accelerating” the French deployment of the Loudéacienne company, whose 700 employees, spread over five sites in Brittany, produce 50,000 tonnes of cakes, madeleines and other biscuits each year.

Conquering the international

“To become a key player in the cake and biscuit business, both ambient and frozen, in France and internationally”, this is the company’s plan for 2024. Because the appetite of Pâtisseries Gourmandes is not limited to France. The third player in the French market, leader on the cake to share, wants to develop its export, which today only represents 4% of the 144 million euros of its turnover.

“It’s almost insignificant. We have set up a project which consists in internationalizing, ”explains Mohammed El Gerssifi. This involves increasing export volumes, working on targeted products depending on the country, but also through external growth.

Last summer, the center-Breton company therefore gained weight by swallowing muffins, brownies and other cupcakes from Alysse Food, a Belgian company employing 200 employees, for a turnover of 40 million euros. The acquisition of the European leader in American-inspired pastries is a major step in this strategy of conquest.

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