The historic Ernée patisserie closes shop this Saturday

In September 1995, Eric Pitault, 30, and his wife Virginie, 20, took over the Jacquot patisserie at 29, rue Nationale in Ernée (Mayenne). Originally from the Somme, Eric Pitault had a rather promising start to his career: “I obtained the CAP pastry chef by being ranked 2^e out of 80 apprentices. I quickly became a pastry chef and, at 19, I was responsible for ten employees in a pastry shop in Abbeville (Somme). I quickly wanted to settle down to have the freedom of managing an establishment. Virginie, my wife, joined me in the company »remembers Eric Pitault.

More than 80 customers per day

After a few months of pure pastry activity in Ernée, the couple decided to add baking activity. Economic logic prevailed. Bread is undeniably a loss leader. To date, there are practically no pure pastry brands left. .

Make bread, yes, not just any way: Our basic rule: produce bread (just as for cakes), with noble, healthy raw materials (sustainable or organic production) and by limiting the range to a few well-controlled products: two types of baguettes, three types of boules, cornbread. And no slicer in our house: the cut bread loses its flavor and keeps less wellexplains Eric Pitault.

Products which have had the particularity of building customer loyalty, attached to the frank and direct welcome from Virginie Pitault, behind her counter: I see more than 80 customers every day and I call almost all of them by their first name. Informal familiarity is required indicates Virginie Pitault. A talkative trader, appreciated even by the Chamber of Trades and Crafts which has just awarded her the distinction La Pipelette en Or!

Retirement without successor

Élise Guérin, 39, originally from Ernée, now Parisian, visiting the store, is full of praise: The buttery croissants and cornbread are unbeatable; I can't find the same ones in Paris .

Why stop the activity with such a reputation? I am 60 years old and I can claim my retirement rights explains Eric Pitault. Behind this regulatory aspect lies a disillusionment: The evolution of the price of raw materials and energy is rubbish. Where is the market truth with double-digit percentage increases? . An analysis which encouraged the couple not to look for a successor.