Breton village bakery reopens after nine months without local bread

A young couple are finding success after  reopening the only bakery in a Breton village. 

It comes after the 1,500 plus residents spent nine months without their own outlet.

Maurann Le Picard, 24, and Gaëtan Platon, 29, opened Les Douceurs de Saint Do in Saint-Donan (Côtes-d’Armor) in August.

Ms Le Picard holds a CAP French vocational qualification in pâtisserie plus an additional qualification in pastry, chocolate, confectionery and ice cream. 

Mr Platon holds a CAP in bakery, pâtisserie and catering. 

They worked at Super U in nearby Binic where Mr Platon built up 11 years’ experience, including as a department manager. 

All their cakes and brioche are homemade, with the buttery Breton speciality kouign-amann being Ms Le Picard’s speciality.

“We have customers from Saint-Donan but also from the surrounding communes,” she said. 

“People have been very appreciative. A bakery is essential to a village,” says Séverine Langlade, the owner of a village tabac, who installed a bread vending machine outside her shop during the nine months that the bakery was closed.

The reopening comes as many French communities struggle with the disappearance of local shops.

Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor), with the largest nearby town 15km away, has become a striking example of disaffection with 23% of its shops closed, claims Ouest-France.

Urban planner and sociologist David Lestoux says the problem reflects decades of housing, shops and public services moving towards peripheral areas, with everyday businesses such as bakeries and pharmacies also increasingly opening where they can easily be reached by car.

In the case of Saint-Brieuc, the competitor is Langueux, a suburb that has arched itself around a 120,000m² retail zone that manages to draw trade away from the town centre.