The Loiretaine Martin-Pouret company has started to build a new headquarters of some 4,000 m2 in Boigny-sur-Bionne, in the Orleans area. The company, which will leave its premises located in the city center of Orléans within 18 months, will invest around seven million euros in this new building. To the key, the installation of an additional production line compared to the current factory. The company, which was bought in 2019 by two Parisian entrepreneurs, Paul-Olivier Claudepierre and David Matheron, expects a significant increase in the production of its three flagship products, vinegar, mustard and pickles. If vinegar remains predominant with 3,500 hectoliters produced in 2021, Martin-Pouret manufactures 800,000 jars of mustard and 80,000 of pickles annually, made only from crops grown in the Center-Val de Loire.
Martin-Pouret also intends to rely on future facilities to launch a full-fledged know-how tourism activity. For reasons of space and dilapidation, the cellar where the different types of vinegar are aged in barrels cannot accommodate many visitors in the current premises. The situation will change in less than two years with spaces specifically designed for the new headquarters. Circuits for discovering the manufacturing processes that remained artisanal in the company founded in 1797 will thus see the light of day. Orléans, a crossing point for river wine traffic on the Loire, had at the time a strong ecosystem around vinegar. A store where the entire range will be marketed will strengthen the system.
The Centre-Val de Loire is one of the pilot communities for developing a new axis of industrial tourism on the scale of France. In this context, Martin-Pouret will benefit from the support and expert advice of the Regional Tourism Committee.
Orleans mustard seed
The current mustard shortage, due to a poor harvest of Canadian crops (more than 90% of world production) in June 2021, is also pushing Martin-Pouret to continue the relaunch of a seed growing sector in Orleans. . As in Burgundy and Alsace, the first cradles of mustard also in full revival, it had been stopped at the beginning of the 1980s, mainly for cost reasons. Benoit Morisseau’s farm, located not far from Pithiviers, was thus until now the one and only supplier to the manufacturer. Four other farmers, also located in Pithiverais, will also become Martin-Pouret subcontractors next year. 500 tonnes of mustard seeds will be harvested by 2025 from around 150 hectares planted.
This relocation work started in 2010, which has been accelerating for two years in the context of the fight against global warming, clearly validates the choices made at the time by the manufacturer. In addition to the question of gaining sovereignty, it now gives him a glimpse of economic prospects in strong development within three years. Thanks to the increase in mustard production as well as the expansion of the range with the launch next year of mayonnaise and ketchup made from exclusively local products, co-director Paul-Olivier Claudepierre plans to reach a turnover of six million euros in 2025. If Martin-Pouret remains a dwarf against the French leader in mustard, Reine de Dijon (50 million euros in turnover in 2021) , its revenue will have tripled by this deadline compared to 2019.
Vinegar Hospices de Beaune
To further enhance the quality of its flagship product, which remains vinegar (60% of turnover), the Orleans-based SME has been associated for several years with the greatest chefs. Martin-Pouret “crus” are thus used by Pierre Gagnaire in his eponymous Parisian restaurant, and Victor Mercier, owner of the Fait ici en France (FIEF) establishment, also located in the capital. Troisgros near Roanne and the Auberge du Pont de Collonges owned by the late Paul Bocuse are also among the clients of the Loiretaine company. Martin-Pouret intends to take a further step in 2023 in these partnerships with the best craftsmen of French gastronomy. To From this date, the company will thus organize an annual grand lunch in Orléans where an auction of exceptional vinegars will be organized by the chefs themselves, like the Hospices de Beaune for Burgundy wines.