Facing the global chocolate giants, Mascarin, the Reunion master chocolatier, has no other choice but to cultivate his difference again and again : which means constantly innovating. Hence a unique and original positioning, halfway between artisanal chocolate and industrial chocolate, which gives pride of place to specific tastes. This is the case again in 2021 with new products on the three Sélection ranges, Authentic and Petits Fourrés.
Mascarin has existed for almost 30 years, not a year has passed without the chocolatier inventing something between recipes, manufacturing technique, packaging or ranges. “Innovation has been in Mascarin’s DNA since its beginnings” confirms Frédéric Auché, Chairman and CEO and architect of Mascarin’s success since 1994. “Since 2010, an internal development committee, which brings together all the operational professions of the company, has become the nerve center for imagining and deciding on our innovation projects. 
This committee meets once a month. In 2016, we invested eight million euros in our production site with, notably, the creation of a laboratory backed by the Quality department. In 2021, we have strengthened our R team&D which now has four holders, plus a permanent engineering intern. We recruited a research and development engineer from ESIROI, the Reunion engineering school, to go even further. » The customers themselves are involved in the process : Mascarin formed a consumer “club” to test its innovations.
In the race for innovation in which the chocolate aisle is the scene, Mascarin has given itself the means to do well in the game. With 7% market share and well-identified creativity, the company, which today employs 45 people, is recognized as one of the emblematic brands of local production. The ongoing effort to renew “chocolate from here with a taste from here” is appreciated by all : consumers, of course, but first of all major retail brands, first customers of Mascarin.
We could see this from May 2020, at the height of the Covid crisis, with the Chocolat Addict operation in which all the brands participated. Mascarin’s invitation to indulge in chocolate has been heard : it made it possible to compensate for the temporary loss of tourist customers, another important target of the brand. The health crisis has in no way moderated Mascarin’s creative ardor. On the contrary, as shown by the brand's latest innovations and plans for 2022.
A festival of novelties in 2021
Mascarin's chocolate offering is available in three ranges, three partitions characterized by pei flavors and recognizable packaging on the shelves. The Selection range : fine tasting chocolates bring together the brand's classics. The Authentic range : gourmet chocolates filled with fruity flavors whose fruit coulis filling is unique on the local market. The Petits Fourrés range (chocolate+fruit ganache filling) : variation of the previous one in small format, it is very popular especially with tourists because it is practical to transport. Without forgetting the Christmas offer which, every year, puts these three ranges back to music through assortments in metal boxes with Reunion decorations. 
Mascarin adds, this year and next year, new notes for each of his scores. In March 2022, this will be the complete overhaul of the packaging of Petits Fourrés, with even flashier colors and above all an original evolving concept of “postcard” visuals which will change over time. For a few weeks, the Authentique range has been enriched with two new filled chocolate references. “Dark running caramel with St-Leu salt” aims, with a dark chocolate base, to reiterate the success of St-Leu Caramel Milk, Mascarin's best-seller. With “Black Lemon Basil”, Mascarin takes its exploration a little further into the original recipes that make the range successful. The Sélection range is not to be outdone with the release last June of a peanut milk tasting chocolate, already become a classic. As for Christmas 2021, the meeting promises to be under the best auspices for Mascarin. The brand can count on these assortments of small fillings with Reunion tastes, but also, on its metal boxes, on the most beautiful decorations of Reunion landscapes that we have seen for a long time. They are, This year, particularly attractive and make the boxes gifts in themselves.
Mascarin launches into bean to bar
Sources of cocoa supply are identified, the material is purchased, the know-how (roasting and grinding beans, dough, cocoa cream, etc.) mastered, the tests are conclusive. Mascarin will launch into the manufacture of “bean to bar” chocolate.
A high-end tasting chocolate that, eventually, could even be available in a stuffed version. Mascarin is also a partner of Cacao Péi for its supply. If its cocoa will mainly come from Madagascar, the master chocolatier plans, as production permits, to integrate Reunionese cocoa into your chocolate ! It remains to find the name of the future range. The Mascarin Bean to Bar is the culmination of a project matured over two years. Launch planned for March 2022.
100% local Mascarin organic syrups
Available on organic shelves for three years, Mascarin organic syrups will have been produced in mainland France long enough to find their audience. The goal was obviously to repatriate this production as soon as possible. This is done in view of the very positive reception from organic customers. Since August, first two references, of the four in the range, are produced in Reunion : Organic mint and organic lemon. The other two references, Organic blackcurrant and organic grenadine, will follow from January 1, 2022. Note that the local production of organic syrups is accompanied by a redesign of their packaging : bottle and labels.
Olivier Soufflet
