It smells of chocolate and roasted buckwheat in a warm and dry atmosphere. In the middle of the second largest industrial zone in Brittany, Kerpont, in Lanester, the Kâliner brand has been established, “the spread, allergen-free and 100% pleasure”. The idea of Arnaud Durat, a Lanesterian pastry chef who was unhappy to become “allergic to nuts overnight at the age of 26”. In laboratories where praline is king, the professional can no longer taste and must reorient himself. “The idea came to create something for me and for all allergy sufferers. A spread close to the one we know with hazelnut but with buckwheat praline,” presents Arnaud Durat. Three years later, Kâliner, “the first spread without the 14 major allergens”, which are gluten, nuts, lactose, soy, peanut, sesame, etc., without palm oil, was born. with two other partners, Sébastien Chanoir and Erwan Le Roux.
“It’s complicated to live with food allergies for patients, those around them, and school. This has a major social impact. The child feels ostracized. With Kâliner, we can provide them with an answer,” says Julien Cottet, allergist, vice-president of the French allergology society. Kâliner brings safety to patients because the six ingredients that make up the range of four spreads are guaranteed to be free of traces of allergens. The French are the biggest consumers of spreads in the world but 350,000 people are allergic to nuts. “There is a market because no answer exists in France or in Europe and we are not only aimed at people with allergies,” explains Arnaud Durat.
After a first year of marketing, Kâliner has a turnover of €800,000. “We are targeting €2 million in 2025. We have invested €800,000 for an industrial process. Profitability will happen,” smiles Sébastien Chanoir. On June 1, Kâliner launched a range of chocolate bars filled with their spread. Christmas chocolates will follow and the managers still have plenty of ideas in mind “caramel, candied fruit, marshmallow bears, other pralines”. Always without allergens, of course.
They have not recruited any employees and are therefore responsible for production alone, which can go up to 2,000 pots in a few hours. “We are sold in the Biocoop network in the western part of France, from Arras to Toulouse. We are distributed by the Breton wholesaler Biodis. We have international ambitions with requests from other countries more advanced than ours in taking food allergies into account, such as Luxembourg or Canada. We are also present in the hotel industry but categorically refuse large and medium-sized stores,” explains Sébastien Chanoir. A dark side to Kâliner’s growth: the rise in the price of chocolate. “We buy it in Belgium and we went from €2,500 per tonne to €10,000. There we are at €8,400. This impacts our margins because we have decided not to touch our prices. » Vegan, organic, fair trade products sold at twice the price of the famous spread preferred by the French.
