Launched in 2018, Breton biscuits with Reunion flavors from the Ker Métis biscuit factory have, in just five years, found their place in the daily lives of many Reunionese families, who now consider them as private products. A recognition consecrated by the Nou la fé label, obtained last year. Ker Métis is now sailing towards new objectives.
The idea of mixing flavors immediately comes to mind when savoring a Ker Métis biscuit. We find the good taste of traditional Breton recipes with an added touch of exoticism.. These biscuits are produced at L’Éperon (St.Paul) from locally sourced ingredients : flour, sucre, curcuma, vanilla... Ker Métis is nothing less than the first local artisanal biscuit factory to have dared to sneak in and carve out a place for itself in a market where the two agri-food giants, Nestlé and Mondelez, reign supreme. This bet was that of a cultural actor as well as an entrepreneurial one, as Philippe Le Gouallec introduces himself, trained agronomist who, after ten years at URCOOPA, where he created and developed the Nutrima brand for local aquaculture, wanted to start his own business. A company reflecting its attachment to Breton and Reunion cultures and terroirs. Sensitive to the historical affinities linking Brittany and Reunion since the beginning of the settlement of the island in the 17th century, Philippe Le Gouallec has imagined the ideal product that can evoke them. Bretons and Réunionnais share the concern to preserve their identities in today’s world. Philippe Le Gouallec organized a Breton music festival in Reunion in 2013 that has gone down in history : the great figure of maloya, Firmin Viry, had performed surrounded by a band of 55 musicians ! The next year, thanks to Philippe Le Gouallec, Firmin Viry, with other Reunion Maloya groups, took to the stage of the Interceltique festival. “I noticed the absence of Reunionese biscuits. Having grown up in Brittany myself next to a biscuit factory, I had this idea for Breton biscuits with Reunion flavors. I identified the market, judged that the ground was favorable and that there was reason to highlight by this means the link between Reunion and Brittany. »
A concept served by flawless implementation
Five years later, the Ker Métis banner brings together 57 references divided between three ranges : cookies (pancakes, petit-beurre, palm trees and shortbread), the cakes (Creole pâtés, Breton cakes, kouign-amann) and salted butter caramel sold in 110 g jars. But if the Ker Métis biscuit factory has achieved a flawless, it is, in addition to the quality of its production, thanks to a comprehensive approach, leaving nothing to chance, of its product. The name first, particularly well chosen : Ker Métis, the word Ker meaning both “village” in Breton and “heart” in Creole. The fun logo related to this name : a heart in the right auricle partly chewed. A well-identified target, that of biscuits in general : women accompanied by children, in the age group of 35 to 55 years, make up the core target of Ker Métis. Packaging in transparent bags, prioritizing product visibility, was also an asset : Reunionese consumers appreciate seeing what they are buying. Another advantage was the judicious launch into the service station circuit, which we know plays a springboard role in Reunion Island in the success of gourmet products, as shown by the examples of ice cream and confectionery. The Nou la fé label obtained in 2023 crowned the entirely local production of the biscuit factory, finally granting Ker Métis its Reunionese identity in the eyes of its customers.
Ker Métis welcomed with open arms in supermarkets
Quickly considered as pei products, Ker Métis biscuits, have won over a loyal customer base since their launch in 2018. A local clientele, but also tourist. Word of mouth works, the number of points of sale has continued to increase in service stations and local shops, then in mass distribution. Six months after their launch, the GMS opened its doors wide to Ker Métis. “We were welcomed with open arms. The signs had spotted us and were waiting for us”, remembers Philippe Le Gouallec. Today the brand is present in 110 points of sale, to which is added online sales on the Ker Métis website. A step was taken in 2021 when Philippe Le Gouallec joined forces with a Breton partner, the Saint-Guénolé biscuit factory, located in Loire-Atlantique, with whom he shares the same economic-cultural vision of the territory. Ker Métis relied on the experience of this house to continue to progress. The partnership results, among other things, in employee exchanges during the respective low seasons., shifted from one hemisphere to the other, of the two companies. So, a colleague from the Saint-Guénolé biscuit factory came to support Ker Métis to prepare for the strategic moment of the last end-of-year celebrations. Result : a turnover of 500,000 euros in 2022, doubled in one year ! And new ambitions for the small agri-food business, and the team of four employees and two apprentices, directed by Philippe Le Gouallec.
New areas of development
Ker Métis once again sets the objective of doubling its turnover from 2022 to 2024. Hence the news which promises to be busy in 2024. The brand continues to innovate by shortly launching a range of three shortbreads with promising flavors : pineapple passion, guava and a unique scent of sweet potato and chocolate cream. It targets professional processor customers with a “pro” offer of its salted butter caramel in 3 kg buckets.. She also plans to develop a corporate gift offering., after first successes in 2023. Community markets in search of Reunion agri-food suppliers, also constitute a perspective. And Ker Métis could well see himself sailing towards other Creole horizons in the Indian Ocean, where its mixed Breton biscuits will have as many reasons as in Reunion to speak to the taste buds and the heart.
