[Our clients have talent] Focus on Aquitaine Spécialités
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Discover the history of Aquitaine Spécialités, which has made the cannelé, a rarity pastry, into a major symbol of Bordeaux’s food heritage.
WHAT DOES AQUITAINE SPÉCIALITÉS DO?
Aquitaine Spécialités is the world’s leading producer of local speciality pastry the cannelé. We have more than 40 employees and produce more than 50 million cannelés every year. Delicately flavoured with rum, cannelés are made according to a traditional recipe.
Bordeaux cannelés are characterised by their shape, from which the pastry gets its name [translator’s note: cannelé means fluted in French] and texture: crusty on the outside with a soft centre. We are a leader in the bread, cakes and pastries market and in the traditional fresh produce market; the major retailers, hypermarkets and supermarkets, and out-of-home catering companies stock our products. We have export licences that allow us to export to various countries: United States, Canada, South Korea, etc.
TELL US YOUR STORY
Aquitaine Spécialités was founded in 1993 by Bernard Lussaut, who had decided to make the Bordeaux cannelé a delicacy that everyone could enjoy. We are a family-owned SME located near Bordeaux,.
Over the years, and as our sales have grown, we have moved from artisanal production to large-scale production. Quality is one of our core values and, through innovation in our production processes, we have been able to ensure the quality of our products, which contain no preservatives, additives, colourings or GMOs. The company is IFS- and BRC-certified, a guarantee for consumers of the high quality of our products and of food safety, thanks to an efficient tracing system. As a company we are also committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR), with 100% of waste being recycled.
If the cannelé has grown from a little-known pastry to a major symbol of Bordeaux’s food heritage, this is thanks to Bernard Lussaut and his teams, who have worked tirelessly to bring the cannelé to the rest of France and abroad.
WHAT ARE THE MILESTONES IN YOUR COMPANY’S GROWTH AND THE KEYS TO ITS SUCCESS?
- 1993 : Aquitaine Spécialités founded
- 2004 : Use of factoring in connection with the growth of our business
- 2008 : Awarded ISO 9001 & ISO 22000 certification
- 2009 : Development of the Ecocert-certified Bio cannelé
- 2011 : Deployment of export sales force
- 2012 : Modernisation and expansion of production, new production plant with an area of more than 5,000 m2
- 2014 : IFS and BRC certification, guarantee of close monitoring of food safety, applying to all departments of the company
- 2016 : Development of the clean label recipe
- 2017 : Substantial R&D investment to stay abreast of innovations for all distribution networks
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PROJECTS?
In response to our customers’ needs and requirements, we have developed a number of recipes: Bio; With Honey (non-alcoholic); Clean Label (with natural flavourings and no vegetable fat); and cannelé Light, with less sugar and less rum. In 2019, we are expanding our range of products with 2 new recipes: the chocolate cannelé and the vanilla cannelé. We are selling our products (in blister packaging) on the rapidly growing snacks market. We take part in trade fairs, such as Sial and Sirha, and more recently in Made and the Sandwich & Snack Show.
WHAT IS THE SECRET OF YOUR COMPANY’S SUCCESS?
We build healthy, productive day-to-day working relations. We have complete confidence in one other and we all contribute to the company’s success. Our leitmotif is customer satisfaction and high-quality products.
Contact: Fanny Bouvard
E-mail : responsablecommercial@aquitaine-specialites.fr
Phone : +33 (0)7 76 00 51 31