Par
Stéphanie Hourdeau
Published on
Nov. 2, 2024 at 4:20 p.m.
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There are twelve of them, united by their passion for flavors authentic. This Monday, October 21, in a technical room at the Nature high school in La Roche-sur-Yon, these men and women, of all ages, are preparing to play a crucial role in the promotion of local products. Transformed into a sensory laboratory, the room, entirely white and bare, lends itself to an experience where every detail counts.
These twelve Vendéens are not there by chance. These “guinea pigs” of the day are in reality tasters who volunteered for the Vendée Environment and Food Laboratory.
Taste buds serving the terroir
Since 2019, this public body has been accredited for rcarry out taste tests on products bearing Signs of identification of quality and origin (SIQO). Understand all labeled food products type Label Rouge.
Thus, emblematic dishes such as ham, mogette, potatoes, oysters, melon, sardines, lamb, pork, beef, or even brioche depend on the expertise of these amateur tasters. .
This Monday morning, these twelve tasters must evaluate their taste pleasure. “They will have to note the appearance, smell and taste of the products,” explains Laura Nicolleau, responsible for the mission and development of sensory analyzes at the laboratory.
On the menu for this session: tuna rillettes with olives, beef Bolognese shank and spicy ketchup. For each product, they will compare three samples.
Before starting the tasting, which generally lasts about an hour, testers are invited to remove their coats. “A question of hygiene, but also to avoid odors of perfume, or even tobacco, impregnated,” explains Laura Nicolleau.
Blind tests
The session begins with tuna rillettes. Huddled behind their immaculate counter “so as not to alter the visual appearance of the product”, the tasters wait for their plate which appears through a small trapdoor.
The first sample arrives. Tasters start by looking at the product as a whole. With the fork, some dissect, crush and annotate their first impressions on the tablet dedicated to notation. Before swallowing a first bite.
The atmosphere is relaxed, but studious. “Even if the matter is very serious, we are here to appreciate it,” whispers a taster between two strokes of the fork. The other two samples will follow fairly quickly. “These are blind tests, no one knows which brands the samples come from,” specifies the test manager.
For the following tasting, the Bolognese beef shell, Laura Nicolleau had to respect the cooking imposed by the specifications of the said product before offering it to the tasters. “In this center of the Nature high school, we are lucky to have a kitchen room to prepare products while respecting all the criteria,” notes Laura Nicolleau.
A pool of 1,400 tasters
For spicy ketchup, only six or eight showed spicy curiosity! “We are fortunate to be able to rely on a large pool of 1,400 tasters. Depending on the products tested, we can therefore make a selection, based on the tastes, profile and availability of each taster,” explains Philippe Nicollet, director of the departmental laboratory.
Anyone can become a taster. You just need to be of legal age, have a sweet tooth and not suffer from allergies.
To become a taster, it’s quite simple. All you have to do is register on the laboratory website. A mission that appealed to Coralie. Since 2021, this Vendée has been delighted every time we appeal to her taste buds. “I have a sweet tooth and I find that these tests are a great opportunity for us to highlight local products.” A role that she approaches with a certain commitment. “We feel useful,” she admits, but above all with a lot of pleasure, “we have a good, delicious time.” This mission is rewarded with a €7 gift voucher. But for her, it is above all the love and defense of local products that motivates her participation.
Each of the dishes tested will be submitted to the taste buds of around a hundred tasters. The twelve testers of the day will therefore not be the only ones to taste these rillettes and this beef bolognese. Other sessions, each with twelve tasters, will keep Laura Nicolleau and her team busy.
Tasters sought after
Local delicacies are not the only ones submitted to tasters. Because the departmental laboratory is of increasing interest to private agri-food professionals. “We also respond to requests from industrialists or food industry artisans who want to test their new recipe or new product,” confides Philippe Nicollet. “In France, only thirteen laboratories are accredited for this type of analysis. The Vendée laboratory is therefore in great demand,” he explains.
These requests come from Vendée, but also from outside the department and even from abroad. “We have received requests to test products from England,” confirms Laurent Favreau, vice-president of the departmental council which chairs the Agriculture, water, laboratory and local food commission.
Faced with growing demand, the service is now saturated. Its activity exists thanks to a partnership with the Nature high school, the laboratory not having equipment adapted to this particular mission. “An agreement allows us to use the high school premises two days a week,” indicates Philippe Nicollet. Two days that are no longer enough. The question of expanding the departmental laboratory is therefore under study (read below) so that it has its own tasting rooms and kitchen.
Why tasters in Vendée?
“Vendée is undoubtedly the department with the most products under Signs of Origin and Quality (SIQO), around a dozen,” announces Philippe Nicollet, director of the departmental laboratory. Labels which “show that these products are better than other comparison products”.
Mandatory tests
To obtain or maintain these labels, the products must strictly comply with specifications established and maintained by a Control Organization (ODC), ensured in the department by Vendée Qualité. A framework that requires sensory analyzes and taste tests. “Until 2019, Vendée Qualité had to carry out these tests throughout France, in accredited laboratories. It was then necessary to transport the products, respecting a number of hygiene and conservation measures…” explains Philippe Nicollet. Complex conditions which pushed the Vendée department to extend the missions of its environmental laboratory.
“The initiative was born during the time of President Yves Auvinet,” recalls Laurent Favreau, vice-president of the Department. “During a visit to the Vendée Qualité organization, a discussion quickly showed the interest in broadening the laboratory's actions on sensory analysis missions. An opportunity for us to highlight the quality of the products Vendéens”, notes the elected official who also sees “a great opportunity offered to Vendéens to participate in this desire for local eating and above all to be an actor in the qualification of these products”.
An extension of the laboratory under study
In 2019, the laboratory obtained its accreditation delivered by Cofrac (French Accreditation Committee), the only reference body in France in terms of accreditation. All that remained was to find premises. “We quickly identified the Nature high school and its equipment. Very quickly, an agreement was put in place to launch these tests,” says Philippe Nicollet. Since then, each year, after audit, the accreditation is renewed.
Faced with the success and usefulness of these sensory analyses, the Department has initiated a reflection on the laboratory's missions which are not limited to the analysis of the quality of food, the laboratory also carries out analyzes on different types water (drinking, drilling, etc.), animal health diagnostics, audits, training, etc. all for communities, organizations or private individuals. “A study is underway to re-establish the orientations of the departmental laboratory, with the objective of redefining an action plan on its missions,” indicates the vice-president. He assures us, “the Department always has the desire to continue these sensory analyses”.
This study should be delivered at the end of the year, during December. It will determine whether or not an extension of the current laboratory, located northeast of La Roche-sur-Yon.
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