Our commitments
Flavours and colours, textures and natural products
Denis Lavaud’s team works towards a goal when it comes to product quality: when you sample the product, you should taste the original flavour of the key ingredient. A sorbet which tastes like a ripe, slightly velvety apricot that you break in half before popping into your mouth or ice cream that brings to mind your morning espresso coffee and its stimulating effects…
At L’Angélys, there are no colourings, added flavourings, preservatives, gluten (apart from in cones) or lactose (in sorbets).
The fat content is above the 5% required by French law for ice cream. The texture must be smooth so that you can feel unctuousness in your mouth, without the formation of crystals. This is why we add potato protein (a natural product) to certain recipes, in particular to citrus sorbets to avoid crystals.
L’Angélys strives for constant improvement in order to add less sugar to its ice creams. “We’re working on processes to enable us to add 20% less sugar to our recipes”, explains Denis Lavaud. In 2022, some new and even more natural products will be revealed.
For us, ice cream is an art form, this means that even though we have certain volume targets for our productions, we never compromise on quality and flavour.
L’Angélys has some forty staff members, who Denis Lavaud considers as family. Both long-standing and new employees in the company, the members of the Lavaud family disseminate the fundamental values which have guided them for years: sharing and transmission.
For Denis Lavaud, it boils down to combining entrepreneurial success with a selfless philosophy.
Sharing the “memory of flavour”
At L’Angélys, the most crucial transmission involves the senses and the palate. Thanks to its artisan ice cream making expertise, and having built the success of his company on excellent products, Denis Lavaud always insists on “ever greater quality – the best there is”.
The quest for excellence is the very essence of the company. Denis Lavaud was a trail blazer in high quality ice cream.
The value placed on consumers and the desire to offer customers the very best in terms of ice cream and togetherness, is one of the building blocks of the company and is in line with the brand’s genetic makeup.
Each day at the production sites, manufacturing techniques are acquired: learning to choose high quality raw materials, measuring out the mixtures and infusions, subtly playing on temperature variations, checking pasteurisation and deep-freezing times, etc. But transmission goes well beyond that. At L’Angélys, the art of tasting is, above all, a question of education.
Quality requirements
To work at L’Angélys, this organoleptic sensitivity is paramount. At the production sites, as well as the many bacteriological analyses and quality checks, tastings take place continuously. The use of fresh fruit, which varies in flavour according to the season and country of origin, impacts the final result of each production. Continued attention is therefore required and, at the production sites, the mantra is well and truly, “all that is average should not be added “.
Transmitting know-how
Rémi Malot, Production Manager
“Denis passed down to me ‘the memory of taste’, special organoleptic knowledge: what you feel in your mouth and on your palate, what’s left in the mouth, what makes this vanilla or strawberry good or not? He even taught me technical information like how to manage the change from a liquid to a solid state, obtaining a successful and balanced recipe, extracting the best flavours, etc. I discovered for example that vanilla can differ from one use to the next. You’ll never obtain the same flavour and so you always need to try it and examine the colour and texture. Making artisanal ice cream calls for constant attention for best results. That’s our greatest strength and it’s what sets us apart from industrial ice creams.”
Guaranteed quality
The production plant is equipped with modern technological tools, an analysis laboratory and a research and development laboratory. A high-functioning team ensures constant respect for stringent specifications, in particular in terms of hygiene and traceability, while working according to traditional and artisanal methods.
Analysis and traceability
The presence of an analysis laboratory within the company is a major asset. Quick bacteriological analyses can be carried out, as well as constant quality monitoring and checks at each production stage. Its systematic use guarantees constant and lasting quality while respecting food security regulations.
As a fundamental value of the company, traceability is part of our determined approach to transparency and trust. All of the raw materials used are carefully checked and are readily identifiable. The packaging provides clear, accurate details and complete information.
Food standards and security
L’Angélys is committed to a very stringent certification procedure, the “International Food Standard” (IFS).
You cannot make a good ice cream without high quality raw materials and Denis Lavaud knows exactly what he wants! Whether it be for his ice creams or full-fruit sorbets, the artisan ice cream maker has stringent requirements, which have resulted in some great professional friendships all over the world but particularly in Charente-Maritime, France.
To name but a few of our closest suppliers, L’Angélys works with excellent products such as Le Rouge-Gorge Taizé melons, Pamplie butter, F. Gacon Cognac from Touches-de-Périgny, Cognac caramel, Lafaye free-range eggs from Palluaud, cream from the Les Fayes Dairy in Isle, yoghurts from Péchalou Dairy in Saint-Cyprien and Fruinov fruit from Collonges-la-Rouge.
Pulped fruit
The origin and quality of fruit are of cardinal importance for L’Angélys. Especially seeing as the company purchases tonnes each year for its sorbet production.
While some fruit comes from France, this is not the case for all of our supplies. For exotic fruit such as coconut, passion fruit and mangoes, it is easy to see why.
We therefore purchase the raw material as pulp.
The fruit purée is delivered quickly so that Denis and the team can add it when it is as fresh as possible to our sorbets. We regularly ask our suppliers for several varieties of the same fruit so that we can develop a combination of flavours to meet our artisan ice cream maker’s flavour requirements.
For example, five varieties of strawberries were needed in order to start up production of the full-fruit sorbet. This combination is produced for L’Angélys and for L’Angélys alone!
Guaranteed quality
Daniel Arlot
Our butter supplier
Daniel Arlot, director of the Pamplie Dairy Cooperative.
“Denis was a customer of Pamplie long before I arrived at the cooperative in 2012. He has an unusual background; we got to know each other and became friends. His company went through tough times at one point. But he always promised to himself that he’d keep using Pamplie butter, and so he did when things got better. Denis is very likeable due to his nature and way of being. He thinks of his suppliers as friends. He’s also a very positive man, who wants to progress, so people are naturally drawn to him!”
Louis Lescure
Our fruit supplier
Louis Lescure, managing director of Fruinov.
“We’re a subsidiary of the Andros group. We supply fruit preparations for the yoghurt, ice cream and biscuit sector. We make customised products for our customers: from small-scale farmers who make their own yoghurts to giants like Danone. We work a great deal on our selection of fruit varieties and on our commitments to producers. Denis Lavaud and his team have a long-term contract with us that we are gradually implementing with other customers.
Pierre de Chalais
Pierre de
Chalais
Our vanilla supplier
Pierre de Chalais, vanilla sourcer and hunter and co-founder of Premium Chef, creator of the Vanilla Expert division.
“I quickly spotted L’Angélys products due to their high quality and for the company’s renowned high standards. We have a solid relationship with Denis Lavaud. Seeing as vanilla has been a part of my everyday life for the past fifteen years, I was able to fill him in about this exceptional spice. But he already knew a great deal! When it comes to flavour, and in terms of aromatic power, split vanilla pods are the best choice in my view. I source the best vanilla for chef restaurateurs, pastry chefs and ice cream makers. These professionals set very high standards. With Denis, we always sample the different varieties of vanilla we offer to him. All of our senses are called upon. We get together at least twice a year to talk about the market, available produce and new selections we’re preparing. We prefer split vanilla pods. There are three types: those split at the bottom of the pod, those split up to about half-way up the pod and those split almost up to the top. This is the kind of thing I talk about with Denis and which we’re so enthusiastic about!”
A commitment to the environment
L’Angélys is also committed to an ecological approach. Firstly, thanks to deep-freezing with nitrogen which is a lot more natural – a process chosen by the company to reduce its carbon footprint. But also thanks to waste water treatment which makes it cleaner. Finally, L’Angélys’ ice cream tubs are 100% recyclable and reusable. They are microwave and dishwasher safe and can be reused as new containers!
A company deeply rooted in its region
By creating a company in Charente-Maritime, one of L’Angélys’ missions was to generate wealth for the area. Apart from creating jobs, this connection is particularly well illustrated by a desire to source raw materials locally wherever possible. This involvement is just as social as it is cultural, with donations made to the “Restos du Cœur” charity and generous patronage of many organisations: football and water-polo clubs, the “Rions Ensemble” comedy troupe in Essouvert and more besides.
Preventing wastage through donations
“Any product not reaching the intended quality is donated to the “Restaurants du Cœur” charity, amounting to a yearly value of 100,000€”, explains Frédéric Ferrer; thus emphasising the large volumes of ice cream which are “eliminated” from sale – sometimes to the great displeasure of employees – in order to respect high quality levels.
L'ANGÉLYS Les Ateliers
Paris – Bordeaux – Royan