Vegane de Bretagne

The next stop on our journey through France, Spain and Portugal was a tip from Manon Boucand, the founder of Tyk Affinage. It’s Vegane de Bretagne, a small factory in Nantes run by Sandrine Marsaudon Mersch.

What or who is Vegane de Bretagne?

Sandrine grew up in a family of organic bakers. She has been a vegetarian since she was 18 and has been vegan for 6 years. Four and a half years ago she quit her job as board secretary and started making vegan products. It started very small, only in markets with freshly squeezed juices. Little by little Sandrine has developed her range of products and finally moved to Vegane de Bretagne’s current premises in Nantes 3 years ago (see address and map at the bottom). Production, a sales room and an office are combined there.

What products does Vegane de Bretagne offer?

First of all, it has to be mentioned that all products are made with organic ingredients.

The current product range consists mainly of sweet spreads. You can spread them on bread or put them on crepes and the like. These include the chocolate spreads (Pod’choco) made from cocoa, almonds and cashew nuts, a caramel spread (Pod’caramel), which is like the classic French caramel but vegan, and a lemon spread (Pod’citron, also known as lemon curd) and last but not least an almond spread (pod’amande).

A special highlight for us was the vegan butter (Beurvegan). It actually has the characteristics of a classic butter and is miles away from commercial margarine with its mostly numerous additives and hydrogenated fats. The vegan butter is available in natural and demi-sel, which means it is lightly salted.

Another classic Breton product that Sandrine also makes is the Quatre-Quarts Breton (Breton pound cake). A popular loaf cake, which of course she uses her vegan butter for. With this product Sandrine follows in the footsteps of her ancestors. The range of baked goods will be further expanded in the future. For example, Sandrine plans to produce vegan croissants and pain au chocolat.

Sustainability at Vegane de Bretagne

As mentioned before, the raw materials used are organic and fair trade. Wherever possible, ingredients from regional production are used.

The packaging and labels are made from recycled and biodegradable paper and are fully biodegradable and compostable. The foil in which the Quatre Quart Breton is wrapped is made of cellulose and is also compostable.

In all phases of her work, Sandrine follows the most environmentally friendly approach possible.

Conclusion

It is impressive what inventiveness Sandrine shows. And how she manages to produce vegan alternatives to traditional Breton products. This also includes the vegan butter (Beurvegan), which, as I said, really impressed us.

We wish Vegane de Bretagne every success and that the products will soon make it to Germany.