The best local producers Loire-Atlantique

It is here, in the factory not far from this store, that the famous round, crunchy, golden cake was born, one of the gastronomic emblems of the region! We owe the history of this mythical cake to Joseph Grellier, a baker who kept the family recipe. It is honored in this store of 200 m², with tea room and terrace. Galettes, Roudor palets and other sablés de Retz, Michelettes, are in good place. In the tea room, accompany your tasting with a madeleine or more elaborate pastries. No visit of the factory possible.

In Vritz, Isabelle Clérot (a former cook by training) has set up her laboratory where she now makes jams, jellies, chutneys, syrups and other spreads. This traditionally fruit-growing region offers the ideal conditions for her fruit-based productions; her jarred preparations are in fact mostly made from the processing of fruit produced on her farm. In organic conversion since 2019, "here, no chemistry!", as Isabelle likes to say. Only natural products are used in the making. You can find her products on the Internet, in producer's shops and on the markets of the region. All sorts of tasty jams (pear, greengage with vanilla, apricot with vanilla, red grapefruit, rhubarb...) or jellies based on perfectly original recipes as well as delicious chutneys (such as the Norman chutney: apples, onions, raisins, lemon, spices), marvellously presented in pretty jars, or the delicious syrups (savory, oregano, mint syrup, sweetness of childhood...). We give in to the very high quality of these sweets but also to the mode of production and distribution, directly from the producer to the consumer, which is a sure guarantee of quality. You can find them, among others, at the Épi du fermier near Canclaux, Little Britain Café in front of the Grand Blottereau park, or Lecoq and also the new space of Brison traiteur at the Nantes train station.

The story begins in the 1920s. Originally, a lady used a simple cookie cutter to make wafers for herself: the Avel Vor (sea wind). The business takes its current form under the leadership of Gérard Jadeau who widens the range to include almost all the products of traditional Breton pastry making. Bring back in your suitcases madeleines, quatre-quarts, kouign amanns, Breton fars, caramel spreads, caramel sweets, pancakes and galettes? The biscuit factory can be visited.

The Rublé Farm is first of all a family story, that of Régis and Colette Boileau, joined by their son Benjamin in 2006 on the exploitation became organic. And it's also the story of passionate farmers who have been able to adapt and change their activity over time. Their dairy farm gradually diversified, with the creation of a cheese factory in 2008, followed by the creation of a vegetable activity the following year. In 2010, Martin (Benjamin's brother) joined the team to focus on beef production. At the Rublé Farm Store, there are naturally products developed on site: cheese and dairy products, vegetables, meat (beef, veal and pork), and there are also other products, of course: bread, pizza pasta, goat cheeses, drinks, fruit, groceries, hygiene and maintenance products.

The Potager de Saint Julien, run by the Fondation d'Auteuil, is a work-integration program that enables some fifteen employees to gain access to a professional activity through organic market gardening, and to prepare for a move into sustainable employment through socio-professional support. Every day, the site team prepares the soil, plants, sows, cultivates and cares for 60 varieties of fruit and vegetables, which are offered for sale in fresh, seasonal baskets every week to consumer-actor members and professionals on order (biocoops, restaurants, institutional catering). Becoming a potager consom'acteur means doing good for the planet by choosing organic and local produce, and above all, it means helping men and women to bounce back and regain confidence in the future! There are two production and collection sites, one in Bouguenais-Les Couëts, the other in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles.

At the Chebuette farm, come and get a change of scenery in the countryside on the banks of the Loire. Depending on the season, we stock up on fruits and vegetables to eat well and for the pleasure of strolling through the beautiful and colorful stalls of the farm's store. In summer, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, rhubarb, are in the spotlight. In the beautiful store, you will also find a nice selection of local and regional gourmet products with creamery, delicatessen, honeys, jams, sweets, drinks and wines. While the children admire the animals!

The Ranjonnière site includes an educational farm (the Field Key), a restaurant (Du Coq à l 'donkey) and a direct selling store of farmers'products (Terroirs 44). This store, which has taken place within a renovated former farm corps (sublime), offers a wide range of local products. 100% season products, from about forty farms around, all respectful of the peasant farm charter and a large organic label (AB). Vegetables, fruit; meat (beef, veal, lamb, rabbit, poultry); meats; prepared dishes; cheeses; dairy products; wine, beer, fruit juice; honey, jams, chutneys; cereals, dried vegetables; Coffee, tea, biscuits… The choice is wide. There's even rustic bread cooked in wood oven… The good idea: farm products for a tasty gift. Terroirs 44, an association working for the benefit of farmers and our palaces, brings together 50 professional short circuit professionals. Finally, the Ranjonnière Farm has a meeting room, which is privatized, just a few steps from the airport, practical and original!

Patrick Legeay is a passionate beekeeper and you will be able to discover the fascinating world of bees with the help of specially crafted hives in a glass area. After a passage in the miellerie, you can directly savour the products from the hive. Patrick Legeay regularly receives schools and proposes the manufacture of wax candles by children.

The Potager de Saint Julien is an integration project run by the Fondation d'Auteuil. It enables some fifteen employees to gain access to work in organic market gardening and, through socio-professional support, to prepare for access to sustainable employment. Every day, the team prepares the soil, plants, sows, cultivates and cares for 60 varieties of fruit and vegetables, which are sold in the form of fresh seasonal baskets to consom'acteur members and professional customers (biocoops, restaurants, institutional catering, etc.). Becoming a Potager consom'acteur means doing good for the planet by choosing organic and local produce, and above all enabling men and women to bounce back and regain confidence in the future! So, we can't resist the temptation of batavias, Chinese cabbage, turnips, spring onions, fennel, celeriac, potatoes, carrots, zucchinis, basil, chives... and strawberries. Two production and collection sites, one in Bouguenais-Les Couëts, the other in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles.

Micro-entrepreneur since 2009 and now based in the Nantes countryside, Véro works from home, producing her homemade jams in over 75 original flavors. The only employee, she distributes her jams to selected retailers such as delicatessens, hotels, restaurants, bakeries, crêperies, tea rooms, coffee shops and designer boutiques. The fruit comes from the garden, local markets and seasonal donations, some of it organic.

Open in 2022 in the old Doulon area in the east of Nantes! Simon and Clément embody the revival of urban farms that are developing for the pleasure of eating well and selling directly to producers. It is on Tuesday and Friday from 4:30 pm to 7 pm that we fill up with organic and seasonal vegetables. The construction of a store in hard is in progress with the rehabilitation of these old farm buildings where the market gardening was present formerly... You can now take advantage of the advice of the young farmers who are happy to share their legume recipes and, above all, their good mood! The Alouette Rit is a wink to the name of the street of Louëtrie: no doubt that the smile is present on the faces of the inhabitants who do not risk to throw names of birds so much the reception is sympathetic! To buy in short circuits, it is simple; it is enough to know it and it is here! You can also find good beers from the Tête Haute brewery and sometimes some organic fruits from the Nantes hillsides. To discover also, their little neighbors, the Good Pousse, an urban micro farm for vegetal micro sprouts on the same site.

Les Ruchers du Pays Blanc is located in Herbignac. This beekeeper offers a wide selection of honeys from the Brière region, such as miel de la Presqu'île and miel de Brière. They also organize courses for those wishing to learn more about beekeeping. The Ruchers du Pays Blanc website doesn't offer online sales at the moment, but it does provide documents and videos about their operation. In addition, they have a strong social link with the ESAT in Leniphen.

Ferme de Grand Lieu, located in Saint-Lumine-de-Coutais, is an organic dairy and cheese farm. With two partners and one employee, the farm promotes environmentally-friendly agriculture. Its herd of 50 dairy cows, of Normandy and crossbred breeds, benefits from access to pasture at least 300 days a year, favoring autonomy and economy. Transforming a third of their milk into mature cheeses, these nature enthusiasts have also been committed to the preservation and development of biodiversity since 2022. It's the perfect place to support responsible agriculture.

Manuel has been a heliculturist for several years. Far from being a vocation or a childhood dream, he was a photographer by training, but he left his job to travel the world. And it is in Asia that he had the idea of heliciculture, in Hong Kong. He then had the desire to open a restaurant abroad by highlighting a typical product of French gastronomy. He then discovered snail farming from a distance and became interested in the subject. Back in France, he followed a training course in snail farming, then another one to set up his own business and went in search of a plot of land to start his breeding. Today, Manuel raises between 150,000 and 200,000 small horned animals. The first adult snails are released into the park in mid-April and early June, and are then put into hibernation at a temperature of between 4 and 6°C, as they would be in the wild, and kept in cold storage for several months. Manuel operates on a fresh basis, cooking his snails every week. The flesh is washed with coarse salt before being cooked in a court-bouillon. Of course, he offers the inevitable and traditional snails with parsleyed butter, either in their shells or in croquilles, a salty biscuit. Other recipes include snails with sun-dried tomatoes and basil, with Roquefort cheese or with pumpkin. For the more reluctant, there is also the escargotine: a recipe for parsley butter with mixed flesh to be spread and baked.

20 minutes from Nantes, at the boundary of the border of Department 44, right next to Barbechat, the Boucherau family has been installed for 30 years in this farmhouse where you work hand in hand. In a GAEC, we produce pork meat, but also beef which after slaughter is processed into finished products and sold directly on the farm. So it's the opportunity to buy live boxes of meat for fine days barbecue, a good roast in family, white ham cut any cut fee for walks, smoked ham, short of beautiful cold meats. In addition to meat, dairy cows are the opportunity to produce cheese products: cheese (nantais, cheese, nectaire…) and other finished products with good raw milk, pasteurized half-skimmed! But also fresh cream, yaourts or fruit, cotta panna, you can't mention everything. There is also honey, jams, ice cream, 100% house and other flavours. Note that here the animals are fed with grain produced on the farm. After a brief stay at the slaughterhouse, they are processed in the approved laboratories. The products are natural and developed with traditional recipes for a fresh freshness. In addition to the farm shop (open at its hours), the GAEC had the right idea of setting up a "drive farmer", it is simple and fast: You choose on the paper catalogue or the Internet, we reserve by phone or mail, we are waiting for confirmation and we pick up the merchandise at the time indicated. In addition, Pascal Boucherau, "daddy", organizes country meals at home or for any occasion with grilled milk pigs in the oven (from 30 people up to 200!), baking in the oven, cutting in front of guests, of course entrance, flat and dessert with farm products, are possible. A local farmer caterer is a good idea and it's just "beside"! It remains to be seen whether he also grows (or not?) ditty.