Maisons & savoir-faire d’excellence

In September 2021, Jardins de Gaïa joined 11 other artisans from the French food industry, for the launch of the « Maisons & Savoir-faire d’Excellence » association. Sponsored by Guillaume Gomez, former chef at the Elysée Palace for four French presidents and an ambassador for French gastronomy, the organisation aims to promote and perpetuate French excellence and savoir-faire among food professionals. What is the philosophy of this association? Who are these prestigious craftsmen and women? And what are the criteria that led the MSFE association to invite us to join them?

The foundations of MSFE association

Set up by four outstanding French companies, Armagnacs Darroze, Maison Barthouil, Confiserie Adam and Champagne Leclerc Briant, the organisation is first and foremost a community of dedicated craftsmen and women. We share the values of passion, high standards, ingenuity, originality, a sense of taste and, of course, respect for mankind and nature which provide us with our raw materials. We also want to highlight the artistry and methods, savoir-faire and know-how, to promote French excellence to the world.

We are already doing this in the organic and fair trade sectors, we have chosen to join this organisation for the same reasons – to pool our strengths, increase our network and share creativity, in order to work together as professionals, and to focus on education for the general public.

The members of the association

The MSFE’s aim is to represent a range of typically French artisan products. So there are Sauternes wines from Château Gilette, liqueurs from Maison Briottet, aniseed sweets from Flavigny, cold meats from Maison Vérot, cheeses from Philippe Olivier, Château Virant oils and Meert wafers. Other members will be invited to join, while keeping the association small and select, to facilitate discussion and the sharing of ideas.

MSFE criteria

The MSFE founders invited us to join this movement, the main criteria of which are linked to the quality of the product and the artisan dimension, themes that are dear to us, both in our relationship with our partner-producers and in the importance that we give to the artisan and the hand-made aspect of our craft as creators of tea recipes.

• Be a manufacturer and producer: carry out at least one manufacturing or processing stage.
• Expertise: real unique savoir-faire, “manual labour” business expertise.
• Traceability: the producer must have a vision and expertise for the entire production chain.
• Be a premium brand, a benchmark in its field.
• Be an artisan, in VSE or SME and not exceed a certain volume of turnover or staff.
• Share and embody the values of the association.

The future looks bright, the launch of MSFE in Epernay was an opportunity to present our respective products to food critics and chefs. Our iced cocktail served in champagne glasses made of cold-infused Dragon’s Tail and served with a rosebud encased in an ice cube was very popular!