French ingredients suppliers, as well as artisan mills and ovens, are eying up growth opportunities in the UK.
More than a dozen such companies were recently showcased as part of the first-ever Bakers’ Day at the French Ambassador’s residence in London, organised by Business France in partnership with French embassy head chef Gilles Quillo.
“Our two countries share a long history of exchanging know-how across the Channel,” said Hélène Tréheux-Duchêne, French Ambassador to the UK. “Even our grains have travelled: from the late 19th century, British wheat varieties helped shape the modern wheats grown in France. Conversely, some of our most iconic recipes are now finding their way onto British tables.”
British and French bakery professionals, and journalists, were invited to the event which featured a programme of talks by industry experts. These focussed on challenges facing bakeries including heritage grain farming, evolving consumer expectations, and new standards following UNESCO’s adding of the baguette to its ‘intangible cultural heritage’ list.
There was also a curated line-up of France-based suppliers displaying their product ranges and equipment. Below is a round-up of ten highlighted firms, including how some are looking to expand within the UK market:
Actibio
Based in the northwestern French département of Mayenne, Actibio has nearly 25 years of expertise supplying 100% organic ingredients to bakery, viennoiserie and pastry (BVP) professionals. These include some of the most discerning artisan bakers in terms of technical performance, consistency, and environmental standards.
Actibio’s portfolio covers the likes of butter, sugar, nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate inclusions, as well as gluten-free flours, psyllium, arrowroot, starches, seeds, fruit preparations, purées, marzipan, and bakery aids. The company operates under strict certifications including Fair Trade and RSPO, ensuring full traceability and responsible sourcing.
Whilst not yet active in the UK market, Actibio is actively seeking long-term partners (certified organic B2B distributors) to support its expansion.
Astréïa
Stone mill brand Astréïa was founded in 2014 by grain farmer, miller, and artisan baker Jean-Marie Ximena with a clear ambition to create more value across the grain-flour-bread sector. Its equipment is designed and manufactured at a workshop just north of Lyon.
The mills are all based on the method developed by the Astrié brothers in the 1980s, featuring an oscillating stone system mounted on springs which gently open grains without overheating, helping preserve their nutritional, aromatic, and digestive qualities.
Astréïa’s range includes compact mills for those wishing to start out or experiment, of advanced solutions for established artisan flour production. It also offers complementary equipment such as grain brushing machines, dehullers, sifters, transfer screws, and handling solutions.
The company already works with several UK bakery businesses and recently began a collaboration with Peterborough-based equipment supplier Beam Baking.
Candia Professional
Candia Professional offers high quality milk, cream, butter and cheese products tailored for pastry, bakery, and wider foodservice. Its range is said to have been developed through meticulous research including regular meetings with chefs from all over the world.
The brand is part of France’s largest dairy cooperative, Sodiaal, which has 12,541 dairy farms and 70 industrial sites across the country, collecting 4.7 billion litres of milk per year. Quality, traceability, and sustainability are supported by La Route du Lait.
In the UK, Candia products are distributed by wholesalers including Classic Fine Foods, Wellocks, and Harvey & Brockless.
Grands Moulins de Paris
With over 100 years of milling operations in France, Grands Moulins de Paris creates and mills hundreds of different flours thanks to a strong relationship with growers and ownership by French grain cooperative Vivescia. This also ensures high levels of traceability and consistency.
Vivescia is planning to sell its Délifrance bakery business to Belgian group Vandemoortele, a deal currently being probed by the competition watchdog.
Grands Moulins de Paris UK has been present in the UK market for over 25 years, with customers including Lovingly Artisan in Cumbria (which just came out with its own flour range), La Chouquette in Manchester, La Barantine in Edinburgh, Northern Rye in Newcastle, The Friendly Loaf Bakery in Bury St Edmunds, and Haxby Bakehouse near York.
Intact Regenerative
This sustainability-focussed company has developed an innovative zero-waste technology that utilises French peas and fava beans, upcycles their co-products, and produces high-protein flours and textured plant-based proteins. The process requires minimal water and no chemicals (such as hexane), making ingredients that are allergen-free, GMO-free, and low in sugar, salt, and saturated fats.
In addition to being alternatives to soy protein and other traditional flours, Intact Regenerative’s proteins can also partially replace eggs, gluten, or butter in bakery products. It works directly with farmers from French cooperatives who follow regenerative or organic specifications, and ensure full traceability, the company said.
The firm, based in Loiret département in northcentral France, is looking to work with various types of businesses in the UK including bakery manufacturers, retailers, artisan bakeries, and ingredients distributors.
Le Gall
Another esteemed elder of the French food industry is Le Gall, a Breton-based dairy specialist that has been producing butter, milk, cream, and cream cheese for more than a century. What sets it apart from the market, it says, is its traditional production methods, its careful selection of raw materials, its know-how, and its values.
Staying attuned to customer trends, it has extended its offering to a variety of formats ranging from 17g portions of butter for foodservice up to 16kg blocks of cream cheese for manufacturers.
Le Gall works with global fine food distributor Répertoire Culinaire to make its products available to artisan bakers and pastry chefs in the UK.
Manufacture Ephrem
A specialist in high-mass, wood-fired masonry ovens, this 51-year-old company based in the southeast province of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence entered a new phase in 2019 when it was acquired by entrepreneur Sylvain Pesce.
Ephrem now blends “traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design and a renewed gastronomic vision”, such as its ‘Le Flambeur’ oven kits, used by artisan bakers and hospitality projects seeking wood-fired cooking. Professional features include exceptional thermal inertia, extra-thick rotating hearth decks optimised for bread baking, integrated steam injection systems, rapid installation in less than a week, and fully modular, demountable construction. It is set to introduce a new fixed-deck bakery oven, ‘Le Boulanger’, equipped with a conveyor loading system as a compact and ergonomic solution for bakery manufacturers.
Ephrem recently started its commercial development in the UK market, supported by local agent Thomas Jacquel, and is looking to build new partnerships with distributors, bakeries and professionals.
Minoterie Girardeau
This fifth-generation family firm operates two flour mills just a few kilometres apart in Boussay, western France. The first site, Minoterie Girardeau, is said to be one of the most modern mills in Europe in terms of technology, hygiene, traceability, quality and food safety. Meanwhile, its Minoterie Suire mill specialises in 100% stoneground organic flour.
The brand is known for its remarkably fine flours that offer consistent quality and high nutritional value. They use an authentic milling technique to slowly grind the grains with 22 millstones, preserving casings and germs.
Among the Minoterie Girardeau range is L’Emilie T65 Traditional French soft wheat flour, used to make baguettes, and Fine 45 strong wheat flour for croissant and brioche. The Minoterie Suire line-up includes the likes of T150, Bio Brioche, and Silex T80. These are available in the UK via bakery ingredients distributor Strawberry Red.
Moulin Hoche
The Hoche family have been milling local wheat on the banks of the river Ourcq, between Reims and Paris, since 1921. Embracing both traditional and modern techniques, it specialises in wheat, rye, spelt and einkorn flours.
Being based near the Picardy wheat growing region is an advantage, it noted. It carries out local varietal selections including Apache, Galibier, Soissons, Camp Rémy and BPMF, and works with a blending station to create a distinctive flour profile while ensuring consistency for artisan clients.
Moulin Hoche is a long-term supplier of Poilâne bakery, which has sites in Paris and London, leading it naturally towards the UK market. Helping expansion ambitions was a partnership in 2024 with bakery ingredients distributor JW Pike, accompanied by a brand new flour specifically created for British bakers – T45 Gruau Rose – a viennoiserie flour without ascorbic acid or added enzymes, suitable for cold fermentation and offering a strong balance between strength and extensibility.
Qualinoa
Built on the conviction that gluten-free food should be nutritious, clean, and delicious, French company Qualinoa uses patented technology to give bread-making capacity to any gluten-free flour, without the need for additives or emulsifiers.
All of its products – including mixes for bread, pastries, and brioche, as well as crackers – contain a minimum 50% quinoa, said to be one of the most nutritionally complete grains on the planet. With yeast already in the mixes, bakers just need to add water.
Qualinoa also transfers knowledge and expertise, with full technical assistance for gluten-free process implementation and custom formulations. It is interested in finding a UK wholesaler for supplying the bakery and pastry sector.
No comments yet