LA CHANTERACOISE, AN ESSENTIAL PRESENCE AT THE TRADE SHOW
Can you give us a brief overview of La Chanteracoise?
La Chanteracoise is considered to be the last artisan biscuit factory in France. The profession has become highly industrialised, and we are the last to have preserved authentic, manual expertise. We do not work with large retailers, only with fine food shops, organic shops and local producers. This represents a high-quality market that values expertise. La Chanteracoise rusks account for 60% of our sales. We also offer mini toast for spreads and croutons for soups. We also have a small range of biscuits to develop our external growth, representing 8% of our business: shortbread, crunchy biscuits and cat's tongue biscuits.
How long have you been exhibiting at the Gourmet Selection trade show?
We only missed the first three editions. We first exhibited in 2013. It's really a trade show that matches our target market: fine food shops and local produce shops. There is no equivalent trade show in France that generates as much traffic and attracts as many producers. Even though it's an annual event, which entails additional costs, the trade show is unmissable for us.
Can you explain La Chanteracoise's approach and motivation behind creating a range designed for luxury hotels?
The approach stems from our desire to diversify our customer base. None of our customers accounts for more than 15% of our turnover, and we want to continue to target small niche markets that value our expertise. We are in a very touristy area in the Dordogne, with luxury guesthouses and hotels that want to showcase the region's assets. We are also looking for niches that will enable us to enhance our image and promote our products. The luxury hotel industry is a good communication channel. The clientele is close to our consumers: when you come to a hotel and arrive in a room that offers a courtesy plate, you look around at all the little touches (soap, cakes, etc.). These customers can become advocates for our products. These plates may make them want to come to the shop and the museum, and also enable them to recognise the product on the shelves of a fine food shop. How did you define the needs and/or expectations of high-end establishments? It's a bonus in a hotel AND for the hotel. In their star ratings, they have a grid in which promoting local producers is a criterion. It allows them to tick that box and earn a few points towards a star.
Which hotels or types of hotels do you work with on this range (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars)?
So far, we only work with luxury and boutique 3- and 4-star hotels. It costs them a few pence. However, hoteliers are very careful about their spending. Some hotels don't put these products in all their rooms: they reserve them for premium rooms, suites or special events. This allows them to offer an exclusive service for a high-end product. When did you launch this range? What were your objectives in positioning yourself in the luxury hotel market? Have you achieved them? It's very recent; we started in the summer of 2024. It's worked pretty well. We offered them for the summer season, as it's very seasonal. It doesn't have a significant impact on our turnover, but it's interesting and showcases our expertise. When we have the products packaged with customised logos, it highlights the work of our teams. It's an interesting approach. There is still a lot to do, we are still in a test phase with four or five establishments. We are doing the same thing with car manufacturers such as Audi. When they sell a car, as part of the sales cycle, they offer coffee and cake. At that point, they tell the story, which breaks up the sales process a little and makes it more convivial. Our primary objective remains to diversify our offering, raise awareness and meet demand.
Did you have to develop specific formats, packaging or wrapping for La Chanteracoise to meet the standards of the luxury hotel industry?
We have our own packaging for shortbread biscuits. These are hazelnut shortbread biscuits made with locally roasted flour and local hazelnuts, low in sugar (a healthy product) and with a distinctive crunch (made with biscuit crumbs). It's a product you find in fine food shops. It tastes naturally good and fits in with the hotel's approach and demand. We couldn't afford to use a large packet, so we miniaturised the format with four biscuits.
We leave our brand name on it and personalise it with a small medallion bearing the hotel's name (15 mm). The hotel sends us its logo and chooses the text. We keep our story on the back of the packaging and have it printed on demand. The hotel decides how many to order. It's a kind of co-branding between the hotel and us.
What feedback have you received from luxury establishments?
The hotels are completely satisfied, they recommend this format, and we have new requests coming in. The fact that we can say that a particular hotel already has this product can attract new hotels; word of mouth works very well. We are keeping our offering very traditional for the moment. We think it would be interesting to develop our sales to Relais & Châteaux, as well as tourist boards and offices.
Like Sylvain Boucher from La Chanteracoise, come and exhibit at Gourmet Selection and sell your quality delicatessen products to fine food shops, convenience stores and hotels.
What feedback have you received from luxury establishments?
The hotels are completely satisfied, they recommend this format, and we have new requests coming in. The fact that we can say that a particular hotel already has this product can attract new hotels; word of mouth works very well. We are keeping our offering very traditional for the moment. We think it would be interesting to develop our sales to Relais & Châteaux, as well as tourist boards and offices.
Like Sylvain Boucher from La Chanteracoise, come and exhibit at Gourmet Selection and sell your quality delicatessen products to fine food shops, convenience stores and hotels.
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