the essential
SERIES [4/6]. At 30 years old, Loïc Béziat runs two bakeries and pastry shops in Cahors with his twin brother Cédric. World champion of sweet arts in 2018, he wants to push his discipline ever further into excellence.
It’s the story of two brothers who go at 200 miles an hour and who give the impression of going in a straight line. An exemplary double journey, which led them to be, when they were only 30 years old, at the head of a company which employs around thirty employees spread across two bakeries and pastry shops in Cahors. “One day opening a store on Boulevard Gambetta was our dream,” recalls Loïc.
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A dream born from adolescence, or even before, when their footsteps began to follow those of their parents, who themselves run an establishment in Gramat. Arriving in CAP, as if by magic, the planets align: for Loïc it will be pastry, and for Cédric, bakery. Both brilliant, they will each become the best apprentices in France in their specialty. They will then spend their first professional years several hundred kilometers apart. Loïc on the Côte d’Azur where he has a series of experiences between palace kitchens and renowned establishments; Cédric on the Atlantic coast. “Whether it was Cédric or me, we each found ourselves in driving regions for our profession,” remarks Loïc.
But the two brothers do not lose sight of their primary objective: “Return to our home in the Lot and work together”. This will be done in 2018, just after the title won by Loïc at the World of Sweet Arts in Paris. A status that he carries on his shoulders with duty and pride. “As world champion, I have a role to play,” underlines the young thirty-year-old in the middle of his large 1,200 m2 manufacturing workshop.2where several employees and apprentices are busy in each corner. Three years after their first installation in the city center, the twins have invested in a brand new store on the outskirts of town, with this beautiful additional work space in the backyard. A profitable investment, when we see the success of their establishments.
“Every year, we try to move things forward”
Because the reputation of the Béziat brothers is well established in Cahors, as in the rest of the department. And in terms of pastry and chocolate, business is going very well. For the holidays, sales and orders keep coming, particularly in the range of logs designed by Loïc Béziat.
Each year, he alternates between classics and new products, trying to push ever further the balance of tastes in his desserts, sometimes innovating with flavor combinations. “We want to advance the profession, it’s also our duty as world champion, we are expected to be pioneers, innovative, so every year, we try to move things forward.”
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To arrive at the products put on sale this winter, the development work began at the beginning of the summer, and even if the two brothers remain “eternally dissatisfied” with the quality of their work, the results are there: while the holidays have just ended, four of the eight logs offered on the menu are out of stock.
However, Loïc Béziat does not skimp on quantity. For the end-of-year celebrations, an average of 2,500 logs are sent, including 500 of their flagship product, the Samba log, which mixes crunchy hazelnuts, soft chocolate biscuit, creamy milk chocolate and dark chocolate mousse… Even at 30 euros, it’s impossible to resist.
16 hour days…
“We are happy, but it is still only the beginning, we want to develop the company further,” continues one of the two examples of this pair of workaholics. For Loïc Béziat, the days start at 4 a.m. and end at 8 p.m., six days a week. “And again, it has calmed down, but for me, it’s not work,” he laughs. by revealing to us, in an isolated room of his workshop, away from prying eyes, a superb chocolate sculpture one meter high on which he found the time to work.
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We wonder where this time is that he is talking about, and what could possibly be wrong in his mind to see imperfections in this sublime mixture of colors. “This kind of piece is really the spirit of the competition, but it is still too early to exhibit it, there are things to take up,” he tells us.
We’ll take his word for it. After all, he’s the one wearing the rainbow collar around his neck. This “Grail” for every pastry chef, which pushes us to “take the profession where we want to take it”.
