Under the Vivèna brand, this duo, who is also a couple, offers nine sweet shortbread recipes in its “Sabelots” range and five savory cracker recipes for the “Craquelots” range. Products intended for diabetics, athletes and all people wishing to improve the quality of their diet.
Nearly 500 packets of biscuits are produced per day, by Natalia's hands alone.
Isabelle Louvier/“Sud Ouest”
Reduce sugar
Kern's leitmotif: combat the omnipresence of sugar. Rather than replacing it with sweeteners, Natalia Kovacheva and Emmanuel Renault prefer to reduce the quantity. Which makes their pancakes low glycemic index (GI) biscuits. Their objective: to combat blood sugar peaks by replacing white sugar, an unhealthy raw material criticized by the couple, used excessively by agro-industrialists because it is inexpensive. The couple prefers wholemeal flours and coconut sugar. All organic, “to complete the process of eating healthier”. Emmanuel Renault recognizes it, it is a “nutrition niche”.
Surprise when tasting, for once, the taste of the ingredients is not masked by the sugar
Conversely, there was a demand for biscuits with local identification. This is why the couple launched their second brand, called Nòstabio, in March 2023. The young Nòstabio alone now represents three quarters of the turnover of the Kern company, bringing together the two brands with Gascon sounds. The sheep’s-chili and hazelnut-chocolate biscuits are their flagship products.
Isabelle Louvier/“Sud Ouest”
The cookies are made with as little sugar as possible. In this case, it is coconut sugar, healthier than traditional white sugar.
Liven up the flavors
Every day, nearly 500 packets of biscuits are made in the workshop. All, by Natalia’s hands alone, helped by her utensils. This morning, using a rolling pin, Natalia breaks up the cashew nuts roasted the day before, before incorporating them into the dough. Rolls of dough cut into rounds and placed on a baking sheet. Her favorite moment? That of developing recipes. “Of course, you don't get a good result the first time. » This cooking enthusiast recognizes that “the most complicated thing is to achieve the compromise between the ingredients we would like to use and the low GI objective”.
Bonduelle produces 350 million canned goods each year
On two production sites, in Bordères-et-Lamensans and Labenne, Bonduelle's abundant production is centered on four flagship vegetables. The agri-food group is also working on longer-term objectives, within an eco-responsible framework.
To allow storage for around ten months without using preservatives, long cooking is necessary in order to dehydrate the products as much as possible. When they come out of the rotary oven, biscuits are more grainy than usual, without being dry. Surprise when tasting, for once, the taste of the ingredients is not masked by the sugar.
Complete the process of eating healthier
Find balance
Somewhat delayed by the health crisis, the first biscuits were marketed at the end of 2021. But the idea had sprouted a few years earlier, on the motorway rest areas between the Landes and the Alps, when Natalia and Emmanuel were seasonal. Tired of only finding biscuits that were too sweet, the couple embarked on the Vivèna adventure. From now on, its biscuits are on sale on the A 63 and the A 64. The circle seems to have come full circle.
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