The best way to resist temptation is to give in to it, said Oscar Wilde… With nearly 8 kilos of cakes eaten per year and per person, i.e. a budget of 350 euros, the French would be the biggest consumers desserts in the world: apple and strawberry tartlets, chocolate desserts, coffee éclairs… The choice is vast, and the demand is still just as strong. Result: two pastries open every day in France. Everyone wants their share of a market of around one billion euros per year.
The program ”Capital” broadcast this Sunday, February 27 from 9:10 p.m. on M6 precisely proposes to take an interest in this tricolor craze for these small sweet pleasures: does our delicacy really make the fortune of artisans? How to make a living with quickly perishable foodstuffs? Are the cleared margins so tasty?
500 cakes on display
Because if the creations of certain chefs, who have become international superstars -Pierre Hermé, Philippe Conticini, Christophe Michalak…- sell even better than rolls, the lesser-known craftsmen at the head of the 5,000 pastries and 33,000 bakeries in France must continue to innovate and seduce in order to see their customers return…
Some are emblematic in their city. In Lyon, the Bernachon boutique has been an institution for three generations. By investing 2 million euros, the boss, Philippe Bernarchon, has transformed the family shop into a temple of gluttony. Large spaces, play of light, cozy atmosphere… It’s like being in a luxury store. A loyal customer, former sales representative, never tires of it: “You know, we are taught one thing in sales school, it’s that the first thing people buy is the representative’s face. Here everything is impeccable, we want to buy everything”.
To make customers succumb, the window must be attractive and constantly stocked. On a Saturday, more than 500 cakes of all sizes will take their place on the shelves, generating up to 20,000 euros in turnover.
A ”presidential” cake
However, despite the abundant supply of around thirty different desserts, one customer says he is unhappy. He learns that a month ago, the pastry chef decided to stop production of his pastries – croissants, pain au chocolat… – deemed too unprofitable. “There is brioche” he replies to the disappointed. To make the number, Philippe Bernarchon relies on his prestigious chocolate made on site, or on the signature dessert of the house, invented by his paternal grandfather, Maurice Bernachon. Called the President, he alone generates 150,000 euros in revenue, or 10% of the cake department’s turnover! A sponge cake soaked in cherry liqueur syrup and covered with praline ganache, served for the first time at the Elysée Palace in 1975, when Philippe Bernachon’s maternal grandfather, a certain Paul Bocuse, received the Legion of Honor from the hands of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing…
Before a pastry chef can make a profit, we are far from imagining how much he has to spend. On 5 million euros in turnover, Bernachon spends 1.9 million euros just in personnel costs for its 50 employees. Added to this are raw materials for nearly 1.5 million euros, operating expenses of nearly 850,000 euros and loan repayments of around 400,000 euros. Last year, the company still managed to make a net profit of 350,000 euros.
1700 euros salary per month
However, as the cakes do not all bring the same thing, some artisans have decided to bet exclusively on a specialty, such as eclairs or macaroons shops. However, the risk with the single product is that the customer gets bored. So, we must constantly find new recipes and diversify, with for example savory proposals. Still in the capital of Gaul, at Les Eclaireurs Pâtissiers, it is next to the giant Pralus (the famous praline brioche) that two brothers, Guillaume and Romain, have opened a 15 m² sales space, with a rent 1000 euros per month. With an éclair sold for 4.80 euros each, the net profit amounts to only 24 cents. Between their two shops, the Lyonnais only pay themselves 1,700 euros in salary per month, which is the average income of a pastry chef in France.
Thus, whether you bet on a profusion of desserts, or on just one, is not synonymous with immediate wealth. However, in the pastry sector, the Feuillette brand has built an empire in a short time, by doing the opposite of city center pastry chefs: settling on the outskirts of large cities. In the suburbs of Tours, for example, a 500 m² bakery and pastry shop on two floors, about 4 times larger than the average bakery and pastry shop in France, is impressive. The shop is a real family home. It attracts retirees as well as families and office workers.
An average basket at 7 euros
Apprentice pastry chef at 16, Jean-François Feuillette is today at the head of an empire of 45 bakeries and pastry shops – branches or franchises – established from Metz to Limoges. Each year, it opens a dozen more. The recipe for its success? Succeed in reconciling an artisanal pastry made with quality products while supplying its 45 establishments on a daily basis. To meet the challenge, he offered himself the services of a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, world pastry champion, and around fifteen machines to help with productivity.
A Feuillette store has about 1,000 customers per day and an average basket of 7 euros, or 2.80 euros more than the national average, for 2 million in turnover per year. This tour de force, he achieves it thanks to the bread, the best way to attract the customer. “You come in for a baguette, you come out with a mille-feuille, a crispy praline, twelve chouquettes and four cannelés” details a manager. Because the last meters that lead to the baguette at 95 cents are designed to make you spend… And it works every time.
“Capital” on the theme “Small traders: fortune around the corner”, this Sunday, February 27 from 9:10 p.m., on M6. The other two reports will be devoted to the return of gourmet halls and the war between independent stores and franchisees.