co-manager and commercial
Brenda Velechy, co-manager and commercial. Cindy Velechy, co-manager, operations manager. Jimmy Velechy, responsible for the management and administration of the company. Jean-Marie Sateya, commercial. Christophe Lambert et Thomas Velechy, responsible for supply and delivery logistics. Chez Leu Piton Glacé, the family business model is not that of parents working with their children, but of six sisters, brothers and spouses united like the fingers of a large hand. All aged 25 to 35, they chose to share the same ideal and to forge a common future by founding, two years ago, a company and a new brand of ice cream. A carefully considered project, resulting from this desire to work together. The idea ? Putting artisanal quality Reunion ice cream within the reach of as many people as possible through supermarkets and the CHR circuit. Build an offer for all ages and for all cultures. Based in Saint-Louis, Leu Piton Glacé is today the ice cream brand that is on the rise in Reunion Island. The product is just right. Distributors sniff out the right opportunity. And the public asks for more. What, for the Leu Piton Glacé “team”, approach the year 2022 with confidence and enthusiasm. Collective testimony of Brenda, Cindy et Jimmy Velechy.
First of all, spelling precision : should we say and write Leu Piton Glacé or Leu Piton Glace, as we sometimes see on the Internet ?
It’s Leu Piton Glacé. But some people pronounce Leu Piton Glace. The name comes from Piton Saint-Leu, where we were born and raised. When searching for a brand name, we wanted to keep this cultural link with Piton Saint-Leu.
An artisanal family business manufacturing ice creams and sorbets with local fruits : Is this definition of your business accurate and complete? ?
This is the definition that is appropriate for us. But to be complete, it should be added that we produce egg-free and gelatin-free ice creams. This is our specificity. We highlight on the market – we can even say on the national market – a range of quality ice creams accessible to all, whatever their culinary culture. We are on an island of diverse origins. These origins create certain dietary barriers. We wanted to break down these barriers to encompass all sensitivities. Everyone can enjoy our ice creams which contain no ingredients of animal origin other than milk.
Leu Piton Glace is now two years old. How is the business doing? ?
We marketed our very first products in December 2019. The business was just getting started when the pandemic broke out and the lockdown came.. We benefited from a buoyant context for the ice cream product from the second half of 2020. We find ourselves today in a more favorable situation, because we were able to reorganize our activity in order to allow a rapid resumption of our production. Our turnover is constantly growing. The 160 square meter premises where we started production, in downtown St. Louis, quickly turned out to be too small. We moved to a larger space in April of this year in the Bel-Air business area. Which makes us think, however, that we could have done more and gone further and faster without the health crisis.. She probably wasted our time. But we are on the right track.
Was your ice cream offering complete from the start of the business or did you build it up gradually? ?
We started with a few products to test the market, see how things were going, find out what customer reactions were, better understand their expectations. We have expanded and adapted our ranges over time., from this feedback. Our ranges are designed for everyone, as we said, but also to satisfy all age groups. This resulted in the launch of packaging in small pots, gros pots, sticks and sorbets and by the creation of new perfumes. We have perfumes for little ones, others that appeal more to young people. The most original perfumes, like vanilla-geranium for example, attract more adult age groups. The lesson we learn from it, is that many people were waiting for this type of artisanal quality products.
What products did you start with? ?
By family bins of 5 liters and 2,5 liters intended for catering with rather classic flavors like vanilla, caramel, pistachio, coco, etc. We first wanted to position ourselves on the market through catering. The Restoration, it was the way to reach as many people as quickly as possible. All the feedback we received from this first experience was positive.. We then considered the continuation. For supermarkets, we first thought of targeting family customers with a one-liter format and a range of around ten references, with scents like vanilla-geranium, black forest, banana, etc. More, in this format, our prices were not attractive enough. We then chose to test two smaller formats : small individual pots of 100 ml, which allow you to discover the range, and larger 470 ml pots, an intermediate format for sharing ice cream with the family, as a couple or between friends. The results were very positive. We then launched the sorbets and, recently, the sticks in the same spirit of meeting customer expectations. With this offer, we reach as many people as possible by highlighting that ice cream is a product that needs to be consumed quickly to benefit from all its taste qualities.
You are all young, about the same age group. Did you already have experience in starting a business and working as an ice cream maker? ?
Yes, we had already worked in the ice field. As a waiter, preparer, etc. But not directly in manufacturing. This is the first company we have created in the food sector. We have created a versatile and organized team, able to produce quality crafts.
What convinced you to get started? ?
We made this choice together. Everyone adopted the idea of ice cream. We decided to try the adventure. We took the time to study the market carefully. This is also the reason why it took us so long before launching the activity.. We wanted to be sure of our project. Comment s’installer, what skills did we need, what were the machines to predict, what deadline we set for ourselves to achieve our goal…
ice cream helper, four apprentices in total learn the trade.
Is there a different way of working as a family like you do? ?
We've known each other forever. We have always worked as a family. We are very close to each other. This facilitates exchanges. Trust reigns between us, what is essential. We are all going in the same direction, we share the same goal : develop the business. Everyone knows what they have to do and gives their best to achieve this goal..
Did the project have this dimension from the start? ?
Yes and no. From the start, we aimed to conquer the Reunion market. We told ourselves that we needed a production laboratory that would cover demand on the scale of Reunion Island., equipment capable of supplying large-scale distribution and CHR customers. This idea was there from the beginning and has not changed. On the other hand, we have experienced development faster than we imagined. We didn't plan to move so quickly.
How does your ice cream offering differ from existing products? ?
It stands out for its artisanal quality. Our sorbets are also made from 100% fruit puree. When you taste one of our sorbets, you rediscover this fruit from another angle. We use high quality products with natural origins in the spirit of glacier craftsmanship., what differentiates us from industrialization. We do not use any flavoring, ni colorant. This is the quality of artisanal ice cream, and our business project, it is to make this quality accessible to a wide audience thanks to the sale in supermarkets at an attractive cost. People are convinced that crafts are expensive. This is partly true since craftsmanship is the excellence of the handmade. But we wanted to shake up this idea a little by offering top quality products at reasonable prices..
What positions you between industrial ice cream and the production of independent ice cream parlors ?
Yes. Until then, to enjoy truly artisanal ice cream, we had to go to an ice cream parlor. With Frozen Leu Piton, you buy artisanal ice cream while shopping at the supermarket and this ice cream, you can enjoy it at home like anywhere else.
You offer an impressive number of perfumes. More than 80, we read on your site !
This is the offer of 5 liter and 2 liter bins,5 liters intended for CHR. We have kept the bin format exclusively for catering. With the CHR, we have implemented a rotation of perfumes. Choosing pure fruit sorbets involves adapting our seasonal fruit offering. That is why, with us, scents like guava or lychee are not available all year round. The breadth of the range also comes from mixtures between fruits or from a fruit with a coating. We energize our offer by constantly renewing it.
Between small pots, grands pots, sticks and sorbets, what does your GMS offer consist of? ?
In small cans, we offer around fifteen perfumes. In 470 ml jars, ten perfumes. In sticks, we start with four flavors available. The sorbets are available in sticks and 470 ml jars. Perfumes differ from one packaging to another. We are not going to decline the perfumes of the small jars in sticks, For example. What we are looking for, on the contrary, it is to be discovered, through our different ranges, the wealth of perfumes worthy of artisan ice cream makers.
How is the choice of perfumes made?, new products ?
We talk among ourselves. We're trying to come up with ideas. The guiding idea, is to offer ice creams with innovative flavors and incomparable flavors. Ensuite, we test the new product ensuring that the taste quality will remain the same and optimal. We also think about its market and the packaging that suits it. We thus define the product, with an overview of its potential. We focus on originality. Because nothing is acquired. We must constantly innovate, search and find how to evolve, how to do better.
Mastery of the process of studying and analyzing a product cannot be improvised. Have you followed training to develop such elaborate and relevant ranges? ?
We trained on the job, on the ground ! We thought a lot about what exactly we wanted to do., tried a lot, experienced. We worked with different suppliers to find those that best fit our goals and values. Nowadays, all our raw materials are French through our local suppliers. As for the fruit, they are grown locally. This proximity to suppliers is an asset and a value that we defend. We want to support local production.
Do you suggest special creations for Christmas 2021? ?
Leu Piton Glacé offers two logs for Christmas. A classic recipe with the Black Forest log and an exotic recipe with a Mango Coco log. This is the concept we adopted last year. It makes everyone happy. The holidays are important to us because they are times of sharing and reunion. This is an opportunity to introduce our brand and our products to a large number of people.. Our ranges are aimed at all ages, from childhood to adulthood.
Leu Piton Glacé claims to have “long taste” : are you referring to the ice creams of yesteryear made at home ?
By launching our activity, we had several people of a certain age taste our ice creams. They all told us that they tasted like lontan ice cream.. Our recipes have therefore spanned the ages…
Reunionese cuisine has a rich history with family roots.. But we rarely include ice cream. Is there an ice cream tradition in Reunion? ?
Effectively, we don't talk about it much, but ice cream consumed as dessert is part of the traditions in Reunion. Even if we tend to forget it, in the 50s and even before, ice cream was part of cooking. By offering ranges of this quality with natural products, we are returning to ice cream as it was made before the industry, before globalization, before the big players conquer the market and, in a certain way, format people’s tastes by evolving recipes. A certain taste of ice cream has been lost over the years. With our recipes, we are returning to the past with technological means and today's means which guarantee food safety in particular.
Where do you find your ice cream? ?
We are in the majority of major retail brands. Actually, we are wherever the cold rays are big enough to accommodate us.
How Leu Piton Glacé was received by distributors ?
Some brands have opened their doors to us, giving us lots of advice and support, by immediately understanding what we were bringing new. Others played the game less, we will say… Which is certain, This is because artisanal quality interests and is demanded by consumers. Craftsmanship inspires confidence. Furthermore, it is associated with the local economy, supporting local production. Ice cream was a flagship product and people were curious about new things. We have had a lot of positive feedback.
Do you manage to stock up on fruit entirely in Reunion ?
The local fruits at the base of our recipes all come from Reunion Island. Mango, passion, pineapple, lettuce, tango, goyavier, citron, etc. We have established links with local producers to guarantee our supply. We have assurance of the origin of the products, of their quality, how they are grown. We are required to offer a quality of natural ingredients that we are sure of.
The bio, you think about it ?
We are starting to get interested. Actually, we are already there a little. for example, our mango ice creams are produced from mangoes from a cooperative engaged in organic farming. If we don't communicate about this, this is because we are still in the discovery phase of organic. We're not banking on that yet., but we are working on it.
Should we consider Leu Piton Glacé more as a company name?, a sign or brand ?
We consider it a brand. We do not have any points of sale and we have no plans at this level. Maybe later… we must consider that we are still in the start-up phase, the most important. Our objectives in terms of outlets have not yet been achieved. In mass distribution, we're not quite finished. The pandemic prevented us from continuing our impact on the Reunion market as we wanted.. We are just starting to explore delicatessens. There are also gas stations : we are present in a certain number of them and we must continue prospecting in this circuit. On the other hand, we plan to create a website to develop online sales. It will allow us to reach isolated customers.
Food security, packaging, reduction of plastics, etc. : all food manufacturers face a certain expectation in this area. What is your answer ?
All our pots are recyclable. We are committed to ensuring that our packaging is also biodegradable.
A favorable context for Leu Piton Glacé
The new brand is positioned at the crossroads of three current trends in the ice cream market.
The 2020 confinement accentuated three characteristics of ice cream sales in Reunion. Three trends in a market that, since, has regained its dynamism on an island where the ice season lasts all year round. The first one, this is the growing share of supermarkets in this market. The two main circuits for the sale of ice are local commerce., mainly the gas station circuit, and large areas. Confinement, by imposing travel restrictions, encouraged the purchase of ice cream in supermarkets during shopping. And the phenomenon continues. The second trend, it is the growing interest of consumers in artisanal ice creams. Progress has been steady for several years. Quality, perfumes more in tune with Reunion Island, authenticity : initially consumed mainly outside the home, artisanal ice cream has made its debut on tables as well as in the ice cream aisle of supermarkets. Finally, the third trend, this is the performance of the pots. Practical for enjoying ice cream, the pot has become the snacking dessert par excellence. With artisanal manufacturing, an offer distributed in supermarkets and mainly packaged in pots, Leu Piton Glacé is positioned at the crossroads of these three trends in the ice cream market.
Comments collected by Olivier Soufflet
