Expertise and skills
With decades of experience in making traditional French confectionery and driven by a desire to produce consistently high-quality products, Mon Pari Gourmand has developed genuinely unique skills, particularly with regard to its liqueur chocolates which are rarely manufactured today in France.
A very fine sugar coating, strong alcohol and a rigorous and traditional production method ensure the unrivalled quality of Mon Pari Gourmand’s liqueur chocolates. The careful timing of each stage and the specific skills of experienced pastry chefs are essential when it comes to producing these delicious chocolates.
It all begins with the right proportions of syrup; the appropriate cooking process depends on the concentration of the alcohol used. This is followed by the preparation of starch casings in which plaster moulds create perfect impressions. The humidity and the temperature of the starch play a crucial role at this stage.
When the syrup is poured into the moulds, its temperature must be controlled to the nearest degree. The liquid centres are then sprinkled with a small amount of starch so that the crystallisation process can begin.
Resting times are understandably important and cannot be rushed. This is a particularly delicate stage which requires the utmost precision: fragile centres are turned over individually to ensure that crystallisation on both sides. Once they are crystallised, each centre is carefully removed from the starch by hand to avoid any breakage before being brushed, blown and coated with chocolate.
This age-old and increasingly rare technique for making liqueur chocolates has been mastered and passed on by Mon Pari Gourmand’s passionate and talented staff.
When it comes to caramels, the company’s focus since 1957, Mon Pari Gourmand has developed unique skills and recipes. This company’s talented employees have mastered the slow cooking process for the ultimate caramels, while developing unique expertise in adding inlaid ingredients.
While the caramelisation of sugar creates the specific taste and the beautiful colour of caramels, raw milk and Charentes-Poitou PDO butter, combined with a slow and controlled cooking process, create a soft creaminess.
This requires more than merely following a recipe: a watchful eye and years of expertise are essential when it comes to judging the sugar’s colour, the temperature of the liquids to be incorporated and the correct consistency of the caramel. With innovative recipes including candied fruit, nuts, biscuits and flowers, Mon Pari Gourmand has developed truly unique expertise.
In addition to its focus on creating products with truly excellent flavour, Mon Pari Gourmand has also contributed to the industry’s development by designing and producing bespoke machines. Just like a pastry chef with moulds which have been designed specifically for particular creations, Mon Pari Gourmand has developed tools which are unique to the company, supporting its innovative work and taking the sector to new heights.
To produce truly original caramels, Xavier Conraux devised a machine which would make it possible to add inlaid ingredients to the caramel’s surface: a unique concept (and a trade secret to which only Mon Pari Gourmand is party!) without which the company could not manufacture these products.
Mon Pari Gourmand combines traditional methods with innovative tools to assist production and is renowned for its rare technical skills.
Environmental policy
Mon Pari Gourmand is aware of ecological issues and the importance of protecting the environment; consequently, it has adopted an ambitious environmental policy over the last 15 years:
- Ingredients of plant and animal origins are sourced locally and in France, whenever possible, as are raw materials for use in packaging. In this way, Mon Pari Gourmand limits the carbon footprint of its products and supports fruit and vegetable growers and dairy producers. Consequently, all of Mon Pari Gourmand’s products have been awarded Origine France Garantie certification by an independent body; this guarantees that they were made in France with French ingredients.
- The company’s building was designed to reduce energy consumption with solar panels and thermodynamic tanks to produce hot water, heat pumps to provide air-conditioning in workshops during the summer and LED lighting.
- All of the company's vehicles are hybrid to limit the environmental impact of travel.
- Environmentally friendly product packaging: considerable thought is put into the development of every new kind of packaging to ensure optimal recyclability. For example, when stored in boxes, Mon Pari Gourmand’s products are held in place with Eco-Foam, made from 100% biodegradable corn. This packaging is reusable, water-soluble and can be composted.
- All of the factory’s waste is sorted.
Expertise, quality and creativity
Expertise, quality and creativity are at the heart of everything Mon Pari Gourmand does: the company’s three founding values are a key part of the company’s commitment to ensuring customer satisfaction.
The company’s expertise is behind its success. For more than 60 years, Mon Pari Gourmand has honed its skills, its techniques and its processes, the foundation on which its development has been built. The Conraux family has always been inspired by traditional confectionery-making methods, learning them initially, passing them down from generation to generation and adapting them to ever larger quantities, while also developing innovative and state-of-the-art techniques to contribute to the industry’s development: from 1957 until today, the Conraux family is known for its ultimate professional expertise and the unparalleled quality of its products.
Naturally, this all begins with the very best ingredients. Every ingredient is exceptional, carefully chosen and guaranteed to have been grown by small suppliers in France.
The fresh fruit used for pâtes de fruit are harvested at their ripest, in mainland France or in its Overseas Departments and Territories. Caramels are made with Charentes-Poitou PDO butter and salt from Guérande or Einville-au-Jard, the only salt manufacturer which is still in operation in France. Fleur de sel comes from the Île de Ré or the Camargue, while vanilla comes from Réunion.
Driven by its desire to achieve consistent excellence, Mon Pari Gourmand also creates its own chocolate coating using exceptional chocolate of different origins, carefully blended in proportions which are a closely guarded secret.
One of Mon Pari Gourmand’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to transform traditional products into innovative products, something which has been at the heart of its impressive growth over the last 60 years.
To meet the demands of its customers, the company has relied on its ability to innovate to create bespoke recipes. Indeed, it can boast 2000 unique creations which have been made on its production lines, in response to specific orders requesting an entirely new product or an adaptation of an existing range. Pâtes de légumes, made with vegetables, and caramels featuring additional inlaid ingredients are two examples of the very latest bespoke innovations.