« If I had opted for 100% plant-based in 2017, we would surely not be talking about it today,” jokes Nathalie Grandet, founder of Michel MaBelle. In Bordeaux, some pastries offer plant-based options [sans produits d’origine animale, NDLR]. Few are entirely dedicated to this approach. It was only after the Covid crisis that Nathalie Grandet took the plunge. She transformed her artisanal pastry shop, located rue Gaspard-Philippe in Saint-Michel. It was the first in Bordeaux to offer a 100% plant-based, seasonal and local range.
A gamble that paid off. In 2023, she opened a second store, rue Maucoudinat, a stone's throw from Place Camille-Jullian. “It’s quite a challenge. Plant-based baking takes more time, money and work. You have to be more creative to work on taste, because we no longer have the traditional benchmarks – butter, milk, eggs… It's the same thing, but it's not quite the same thing. » In the windows of its stores, filled with refined creations, plants are discreetly mentioned on the labels, without ever being put forward as a commercial argument.
“100% vegan today is a constraint. In this type of niche business, you have to struggle to keep up”
“Please the refractory”
It's not uncommon for customers to walk in the door and turn around when they learn there's no cow's milk or butter. “100% vegan today is a constraint. In this type of niche business, you have to struggle to keep up,” she says. She adopted a well-thought-out strategy: creating simple, visually classic, tasty desserts. “My goal is to make sure that it’s not too obvious that it’s vegan, to please the most reluctant. »
Nathalie Grandet opened two Michel MaBelle boutiques, the first in 2017 and the second in 2023.
Fabien COTTEREAU / SO
Upstairs at the Land and Monkey patisserie, rue des Remparts, a customer is enjoying a babka. “I didn’t even know it was plant-based. I don't feel any difference, it's delicious. It’s a nice surprise,” shares the Toulouse woman. Opened on October 25, the franchise – and the second plant-based pastry brand in Bordeaux – opted for the same strategy by trying to reach a wider audience.
“It’s possible to be greedy and eat differently, without feeling like you’re a seed eater”
Consume differently
“We want people to come in without knowing that it’s plant-based and say to themselves: it’s possible to be greedy and eat differently, without feeling like they’re a seed eater,” explains Salomé Lafage, the manager. Since its opening, the store has attracted a diverse clientele, including 30% confirmed vegans.
Fabien COTTEREAU / SO
For the holidays, many individual plant-based logs are sold.
“Vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians, carnivores… The idea is to exclude no one,” she insists. During the Christmas period, many individual logs are sold. “We hope that our customers will order a vegetable log for the whole family next year. »
Even if the manager recognizes that “the offer in Bordeaux is still struggling to develop”, she remains convinced that “the ways of consuming are evolving” and tending towards a more plant-based diet. “It’s the food of tomorrow. »
