Mr Paullet: “We took over the company in 2014, when it was a small soap factory. We had a shop in Loix, next to our production area, and then opened a second shop in Saint-Martin-de-Ré. Five years ago, we opened another shop in the Phare des Baleines lighthouse.”

“This morning, we are both here with my daughter Marie-Julie, who has worked in the company for 10 years and is now in charge of social media. As the manager, I am in charge of admin, finance and product sourcing, meaning everything that goes into the product formulations. Then we have Marie-Paule, the chemist and perfume engineer, who works on creating the formulations.”

Mr Paullet: “In terms of our raw materials, we try to use environmentally-friendly materials, particularly in terms of the oils used in the soap making process. We use a great deal of coconut oil and rapeseed oil.
Our ingredients are 100% natural. For the deodorant, for example, we use truly natural products and there are no aluminium residues at all in the product.
We use products that are sourced locally. We source many of our products from France, often from Île de Ré. The milk comes from the south of France.”

This passage was recorded in the production area with the sound of the soap-making machine in the background.

Mr Paullet: “When we make gift packs, we use reusable containers, small baskets that can be reused, and solvent-free printed packaging.” Marie-Julie: “The soaps are sold plain, there’s no packaging. Afterwards, if people wish to make gifts, we offer gift bags.

For the liquid soap, we have made a refill that we did not have, precisely because our customers asked us for it so many times.”

Mr Paullet: “They had been asking us for refills for at least 5 years, and now we have refills in flexible stand-up pouches. And it is working very, very well. This is our first year and we have got off to a very good start with this product.”

Marie-Julie: “We really only started in November and we can see that people are seeking our products because we have more and more subscribers, more and more people encouraging us through the posts we make.
We aim to communicate effectively that we are here because we make high quality products. We are not here to sell a brand. We are here to sell soap for skincare.
We want people to want to try our products.
We also aim to show people through our social media accounts that we are a family business. We show people what goes on behind the scenes, because it is important and, also, because I think people like to see a bit of what goes on inside a company.
We are lucky to have a team that gets on really well and I think people are pleased to see that soaps and skincare products are made locally in a positive, happy atmosphere. I think it is important to communicate this and for people to realise how important it actually is.”