The traditional French breakfast: delicious and refined

For a French-style breakfast or a delicious snack, nothing beats a cup of hot chocolate to start the day or take a welcome break. For 20 years, gourmets in hotels and tea rooms have been enjoying Andrésy Confitures’ “Les confitures à l’ancienne” hot chocolate. At once traditional and trendy, it is turning up in the most unexpected places.

Chocolate in any shape or size is said to be a great mood booster! It makes a delicious hot or cold drink at any time of day, instantly conjuring up sweet memories of childhood, a welcome break when everything around us is gathering pace. Far from outmoded, it has set off a real trend, lending itself to numerous recipes and even inspiring the creation of bars for drinking… chocolate.

Andrésy’s “Confitures à l’ancienne” traditional-style chocolate

consists of jams – organic, low-sugar or traditional – stewed fruits, honeys, teas, fruit juices and chocolate. Andrésy Confitures’ Gastronomy range.

The powdered drinking chocolate came into existence a few years ago when Andrésy asked a master chocolate-maker who’s mad about his job to create a premium-quality product to round out its “Confitures à l’ancienne” collection. He met the challenge with flying colours, creating a delicious and exclusive recipe. It contains 35% cocoa and semi-refined light brown cane sugar, so there is no need to add sugar to enjoy the distinctive flavour and the simultaneously full-bodied and balanced aroma that are its hallmark. Its qualities have been recognised by professionals, earning it a prize at the International Chocolate Awards in 2002.

Refined, convenient packaging

With packaging reminiscent of kraft paper and illustrated with the red samovar of the “Confitures à l’ancienne” line, this powdered drinking chocolate is perfectly in keeping with Andrésy’s traditional, family values. The company distributes it in France, where it makes a delicious accompaniment to the traditional French breakfast pastries served in 3* and 4* hotels or the pastries in tea rooms. It comes in conveniently-sized one kilo boxes or individual 20 gram sachets.

It has even crossed the Atlantic and you’ll find it in a handful of gourmet grocery shops in New York, in 500 gram boxes or in individual sachets presented in Plexiglas display cases.

The latest French breakfast trends

According to figures released by the chocolate makers’ trade association, France had the seventh-highest consumption of chocolate in Europe in 2016. The French consumed 381,900 tonnes of chocolate, all forms combined, including 12% in the form of powdered chocolate. Drinking chocolate is still part of the breakfast ritual for 85% of people, in particular under-20-year-olds.

Lifestyles and consumption patterns are changing, though, in both the world of work and leisure times. Andrésy Confitures has picked up on these trends and is exploring new development paths.

Sabine Cassey, an expert from the French hotel industry and away-from-home food service department, explains: “Today, our Gastronomy collection is encountering strong demand from high-end catering companies, growing numbers of which are offering breakfasts and gourmet breaks.We also have a specific offering for unusual tourist accommodation, such as horse-drawn caravans,  tree houses and yurts, which are very popular with consumers in search of novel experiences.”»