“The Honoré workshop is a bit like our third child. » Behind this name, Christelle and Cyrille Vandroux, a couple from Clermont (Oise), who revived an artisanal practice which had almost disappeared in the Oise; the manufacture of traditional mustards. Once common, this production had gradually given way to other activities, at the same rate as the cultivation of mustard seeds had disappeared from the fields of the Oise, in favor of plants with more reliable yields, such as rapeseed.
This was without the visceral desire to undertake of this marketing teacher and this banking executive, who had long been interested in the world of crafts. “Like many people during confinement, we thought about launching a business, a project that we had had for a long time,” says Cyrille.
An area in which there are not many people left in Oise or even in Hauts-de-France, apart from Philippe Guillomy, in Ribécourt-Dreslincourt, whose family business Champ's has existed since 1964, which until then was the last artisan mustard maker from the region. In France, only a handful would have kept this know-how.
In Clermont, Christelle and Cyrille only took two years to create a range of traditional and organic mustards, the reputation of which began to cross the limits of the department. And they launched after the Covid, without wanting to surf on the mustard shortage which could affect the country in 2022. “We already had the idea before this episode, we had the chance to meet artisan mustard makers who told us advised and helped,” emphasizes the couple.
All with regional products: mustard seeds and wine vinegar from the Somme. “All the ingredients come from France,” assures the couple. We managed to remake a local mustard with white seeds, which is not a copy of the one made in Dijon. »
A local anchor that has attracted consumers but also restaurateurs. “For an establishment in Beauvais, we created a special mustard based on thyme and wild thyme. And we also work with farmers who can market their mustard on their farms. » The success is such that the couple recruited an apprentice to manage their website and social networks, while looking for larger premises for their workshop which is still located in the basement of their house.
To the point of seriously considering leaving their jobs to devote themselves exclusively to the Honoré workshop? “This is a question that we obviously ask ourselves, in 2024, we have processed 2 tonnes of mustard and we participated in the Made in France exhibition at the Porte de Versailles in November. With a larger workshop, we will be able to produce more and give tours of the manufacturing site, a process that always interests people. »
