Guillaume Challet is originally from Vendée but now he owns a tiny dairy in Saint-Junien (Haute-Vienne) called ‘La Voie Lactée’ (the Milky Way). Before starting the business three years ago, he was a dairy farmer producing milk, cheese and rice puddings.
“But his star product was his rice pudding,” says new employee Vincent Payrel. “People just really loved it. So he decided to concentrate on that, sold the farm and started the dairy.” Guillaume now makes rice puddings and a small range of other milk-based desserts.
Vincent Payrel, who used to be a journalist, joined the dairy six months ago and now deals with PR and marketing, as well as lending a hand with production and deliveries.
“We buy organic milk from a farmer in Nexen who has a herd of Jersey cows. Their milk is top quality, very high in fat content, and ideal for making creamy desserts. The Limousin does not really have much dairy tradition because Limousin cattle are for beef and don’t really produce milk. Our organic rice is also produced in France, in the Camargue. Then we just add organic cane sugar.”
La Voie Lactée has also experimented with cream desserts flavoured with hazelnuts and caramel and is about to launch one aimed at children with hazelnuts and chocolate.
“We began by selling to small organic shops and groceries but we’re now stocked in all the big supermarkets around here; InterMarché, SuperU, and LeClerc. We’re expanding across the Limousin. We don’t sell directly because there is no need. And rice pudding is still our main product.”
La Voie Lactée
The name comes from the fact that both men love space and space exploration, and thought it was a nice pun. “We have good relationships with customers via our Facebook page, and people ring to ask where to find our stockists. It is important that people can communicate directly with us.”
The entire production is done by hand; they only use a sterilising machine. “We just do our little recipe. It’s about quality of life, not profit. We’re not looking to become a multi-national. We just want to remain small. Three people maximum. We value working in a good atmosphere, and the satisfaction of making something high quality. When we deliver our rice puddings, people tell us how much customers love them.”
