It's a beautiful family story, and, what's more, in the area of well-being. Five years ago, Quentin and Enzo Chauve, brothers from Finistère now aged 24 and 28, launched the NŌTO brand (which means, during a duel in Japan, the act of putting away one's katana as a sign of peace, Editor’s note). A hit in pharmacies and parapharmacies.
Olivier, Quentin and Enzo's father, Olivier, had stayed in the United States about ten years ago and discovered CBD, already very popular across the Atlantic but unknown in France. “When we went to see our father in Colorado (one of the states with the most crops of this type – regulated), we discovered immense fields of cannabis sativa (a variety of hemp), highly regulated but inconceivable in France. As our father's company, Spectrum Europe, is one of the leaders in the sale of pure hemp ingredients and also manufactures food supplements as subcontractors for other brands, we decided to launch an adventure family… and us, to create our range of products that are more qualitative and more palatable than what was already available on the market.”
Gums, sublingual oils, granules… This is their brand, NŌTO. “Our core business is health and balance – so we added a bar on the O of NŌTO to symbolize homeostasis.”
“Sales are taking off well”
The brand was launched in the middle of a pandemic: “a hell of a risk, a bit of madness but everything was ready! “. With more than 500,000 annual sales, the brand is a hit and is sold in around 28 countries in pharmacies and parapharmacies. There are 1,200 points of sale in France and the French Overseas Territories – the islanders are very fond of CBD. “We even have two pharmacies in Japan that sell our products…! “.
Since November 2023, the two brothers have had their own laboratory meeting pharmaceutical standards in the Kernevez area, in Quimper, in the premises and laboratories of their father, Spectrum Europe. “We didn’t want to stop there,” slips Quentin. We now have the most complete catalog in France of CBD-based products – all without THC, of course – knowing that France is the largest European CBD market. But we were interested in other plants and areas…”. In this case, medicinal mushrooms.
Three months ago, they launched a new brand, Bloomster, currently the only Breton brand in this field (there are three in France). This same trio, who constantly monitor what is happening among the Anglo-Saxons, saw that medicinal mushrooms have been all the rage in the United States for several years, just as in the United Kingdom. “We also wanted to be among the pioneers for mushrooms! »
For the moment, they use three (in capsules, systematically combined with a plant and a vitamin): Lion's mane (hericium) for memory and cognition, maitake for stress and the antioxidant effect and Shiitake for strengthening the immune system. “Sales are taking off well, especially at the end of the year, when everyone needs to breathe and recharge their batteries,” notes Quentin Chauve, who aims to develop his brands, and why not, create new ones, always more innovative.
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