FEATURE - When fine food and innovation strike the right chord
THE PRODUCT, REIMAGINED
The most sustainable innovations often emerge from constraints: working around an intolerance, giving waste a new purpose, or bringing local production back. Challenges that three producers have chosen to turn into a strength.
Chef and culinary creator Alain Indria has drawn on his expertise in healthy, plant-based cuisine to develop an innovative product: Ohlive, an extra virgin olive oil butter that preserves the purity of the raw ingredient while offering a silky texture that is easy to spread. All 100% plant-based. On the market since spring, this Belgian recipe contains no animal-derived ingredients or preservatives. Here, the challenge of going dairyfree becomes a selling point in its own right.
The same approach can be seen in the Doubs, where chocolatier Théo Mairot draws on his expertise as an artisan to create Kawira. After working exclusively with the cocoa bean for many years, he discovers that the husk also has precious aromatic qualities of its own. This observation led to a conviction: to give new value to this part, often overlooked by chocolatiers, by creating cocoa husk infusions. An idea inspired by a Mayan tradition, where yesterday’s waste becomes tomorrow’s ingredient.
Vanilla is everywhere in baking. But it often travels a long way to get there. Known for keeping the tradition of Breton biscuit-making alive, La Trinitaine has joined forces with another iconic local name, Prince de Bretagne, to grow vanilla locally. The first of its kind produced in mainland France, it is the result of five years of agricultural research and development in the Côtes-d’Armor department. Proof that importing isn’t the only option. This rare vanilla can be found in a recipe for all-butter biscuits, available in a limited edition until the end of September.
PUTTING PRODUCTION TO THE TEST
Innovation doesn’t always reinvent the product. Sometimes, it means taking a broader view of the manufacturing process itself. Already tested and proven, but never set in stone.
The tinned fish market is vast, with a wealth of offerings. Yet Fausto proves that there is still room to do things differently. This Portuguese artisan company has chosen sustainability: wild fish caught at the right time of year, an age-old line-fishing method, catching fish one by one, hand-preparation and hand-canning. And to complete the process, six months of maturation in the tin before sale, to achieve unrivalled flavour. Here, patience is a production method in its own right.
Founded in 2015 in the kitchen of its founder, Audrey Dangauthier, Happy Hours en Biovallée took a new direction five years later. Already committed to making healthier, 100% organic grocery products based on dried fruit and nuts, the company wanted to operate from a site that lived up to its values. It moved to an innovative ‘eco-site’ in the Drôme, designed to preserve and make the most of natural resources, support organic farming and reduce energy consumption across the local area. The production site thus becomes an ingredient in the recipe itself.
ROOTS AS INSPIRATION
Fine food is second to none when it comes to telling family stories. While family traditions abound across the sector, they have the good sense never to be passed down in quite the same way. Each new generation brings its own sensibility and vision to carry the family story forward.
In Brittany, Chloé Struillou chooses not to leave her great-grandmother’s recipes, a baker and pastry chef, gathering dust. A century later, she brings them up to date with Kouign Marie: iconic Breton pastries to make easily at home. Together with her aunt Anne, she designs kits with a strong local identity, made with Breton raw ingredients, including flours developed with the miller who supplies her parents, who are also bakers.
Still in Brittany, the story of La Cour d’Orgères begins with a major change in their lives. Theirs: Margareth and Pierre-Jan Indekeu. At the time, they were studying medicine and attending a science school respectively. In the 1970s, they chose to embrace a life in the countryside. Initially, they worked as farmers, before retraining as jam makers following a drought. In 2006, two of their daughters, Vérène and Marie-Charlotte, took over the reins and brought a contemporary touch to the family business: sweet-and-savoury flavours, food-and-jam pairings and “Les Sublimes”, a range of reduced-sugar jams made entirely from fruit, developed after two years of research and development.
Three perspectives, one shared conviction: innovation cannot be improvised; it is built. One product, one gesture, one generation at a time. These choices, sometimes simple but decisive, are reshaping the face of the sector today.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP MEANS CONSTANTLY ADAPTING
Innovation is about more than good ideas. It is a journey: taking the pulse of the market to act where the impact will be greatest.
That is why Gourmet Selection and Le Monde de l’Épicerie Fine have co-created the Business Initiatives Award to celebrate innovative, committed and purpose-driven entrepreneurial initiatives. Whether in sourcing, manufacturing, distribution or positioning, this new event aims to champion the companies helping to shape the future of the premium grocery sector.
Exhibiting at Gourmet Selection: a springboard for innovative manufacturers
The manufacturers featured in this report have one thing in common: products that tell a story and meet customers’ evolving expectations. To raise awareness of these products, Gourmet Selection brings together the entire quality food retail sector, from retailers and local shops to wholesalers, importers and exporters, and large-scale retailers. These buyers, all on the lookout for new products, attend the trade fair to identify the items that will make a difference on their shelves.
The trade fair’s competitions extend this visibility well beyond the event itself. The ‘Best Of’ competition recognises the most remarkable new products in the premium food sector. For the second year running, the buyers at Galeries Lafayette Le Gourmet have selected eight winners for 2026, who will be showcased this autumn at the Paris store on Rue Haussmann. The Business Initiatives Award, meanwhile, recognises an entrepreneurial approach as a whole. Its winners benefit from editorial coverage, strategic discussion sessions with jury members, and opportunities to network with fine food retailers and distributors.
The next edition of Gourmet Selection will take place from Sunday 12 to Tuesday 14 September 2027 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. For companies that innovate through their products, manufacturing processes or the passing on of expertise, this is an opportunity to showcase their creations to industry professionals who will bring them to life in shops.