Leading French flour producer Moul-Bie, used by many of the world’s top bread makers, invited six of the UK’s leading artisan bakers to Paris at the end of January (23rd – 25th January), to share ideas, knowledge and experience.
Aidan Monks, owner of Lake District bakery, Lovingly Artisan, was one of six British bakers, invited to share their mutual passion for all things bread with their French counterparts.
Moul-Bie established in 1919 in the aftermath of WWI, has for the last 100 years been at the forefront of baking industry innovation. As a company their ethos is simple, to supply bakers the world over with authentic flours that are of the highest quality and consistency and create the best breads possible.
During the trip Aidan and his fellow bakers had the opportunity to meet with senior managers from the company and visit the Moul-Bie flour mill to see the processes involved in creating some of the world’s leading flours, which they use in crafting their breads. In addition, they were then fortunate to be able to visit the Moul-Bie bakery school Ecole de Boulangerie et de Pâtisserie de Paris (EPB), where they met with bakery students and their tutors and spent time sharing their combined knowledge and insight.
Aidan Monks, owner of Lovingly Artisan bakery, said: ‘’Moul-Bie is at the very heart of the French baking industry, their products are a by-word for quality and excellence the world over. I choose to use their flours to create my French sourdough baguettes to provide my customers with authentic, artisan crafted quality breads. Having the opportunity to visit both the flour mill and the bakery school with my UK colleagues has inspired us all, it has provided us with a unique insight and provided a us with the opportunity to share knowledge and share ideas, which will help us all to grow our businesses and further enhance the breads we produce.’’
Thomas Soccoja, Technical Manager and UK Support Manager with Grand Moulins-de-Paris said: ‘’Taking UK Artisan bakers to our production unit and cookery school in France is very important to us, it helps us to build strong relationships with those we work with and also helps us to fully understand each other. Not only that it’s the perfect opportunity to gather together and share our mutual passion for bread. Bread making is all about a journey, from the grain of wheat grown by the farmer to the flour created by the miller to the final loaves of bread crafted by expert bakers. This journey is important, and we believe that it is very important that the bakers we supply understand how our flour is created and the stringent processes we follow to deliver the best product to them so that they in tun can craft the best bread possible using Moul-bie flour.’’
