Leader of margarine in France and Italy, St Hubert manufactures its products in Ludres in Meurthe-et-Moselle. The company has 200 employees and generates 150 million turnover.
The brand was created in 1904 by Paul Couillard. A visionary who, from the beginning of the 20th century, had the idea of selling pasteurized milk in glass bottles. Initially a simple dairy, it will become a heavyweight in the food industry, thanks to the innovative spirit of its managers. Just after the war, it launched into cardboard yoghurt, then under the St Hubert umbrella, the Omega 3 brand which was to become the flagship product.
In 1980, St Hubert launched into margarine. This is quite a precursor because from that time on, society has the intuition that plants will take a greater place to the detriment of dairy products.
“Margarine, recalls Charles de Kervénöael, it is an emulsion of oil and water, 100% French rapeseed oil in the case of St Hubert. Then there is a very low temperature crystallization phase. We thus obtain this margarine which is a low-fat butter that is both good for the planet and good for your health. “
And don’t tell him that margarine is “poor man’s butter” much worse than regular butter.
“We have a large number of customers who consume us daily. Our product has a good buttery taste, but low in fat, and with a good carbon footprint. It is a market of 400 million euros in which we are the leader. “
Charles de Kervénöaelto franceinfo
St Hubert has decided to launch new plant-based oat-based yogurts. “We believe in it because first of all it tastes good, which is always the first key element in the food industry, explains Charles de Kervénöael. It is a vegetable protein which is good for health, and which is preferable to soybeans, always linked to questions of deforestation or GMOs. Oats also consume very little pesticide. “
Charles de Kervénöael finally defends himself from surfing the vegan fashion. “We are rather activists around flexitarian food. Veganism concerns only a very small part of the population, less than 2% and we are not extremists on the subject.”