Histoire du groupe Ladurée (document en anglais)

I- History of Ladurée (introduction)

It all began in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from southwest of France, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale, in Paris.

During the same year, the first stone of the Garnier Opera was laid, and the area surrounding the Madeleine was rapidly developing into one of the Capital’s most important and elegant business districts. The most prestigious names in French luxury goods have already taken up residence in his neighborhood.

In 1871, while Baron Haussmann was giving Paris a “new face”, after a fire the bakery became a pastry shop.

The decoration of the shop was entrusted to Jules Cheret, a famous turn-of-the-century painter and poster artist. He sought inspiration from the painting techniques used for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Garnier Opera.

By using them in his work, he added depth and relief to the ceilings ornamented with cherubic children.

This site imbued with a refined atmosphere and charged with history, that seduced David Older and his father Francis, founder of the Older Group.

In 1993, they decided to buy this Parisian institution, to promote and develop the famous “Maison”.

In September 1997, a new prestigious Ladurée address both a restaurant and tea room opened on the Champs-Elysées.

II – Stratégy marketing

There are three different universes at Ladurée:

- The sweet’s whith macarons, pastries, chocolates, and refine goods.

- “The Ladurée’s secrets”, with flavored candles, perfumes own-created, shopping bag, accessories, clothes and the baby collection.

- And the beauty sector, with creams, oils, powders…

The purpose is to bring Ladurée products at home.

Ladurée wish to extend further his brand, as a strategy adopted by the Older group since the house was bought.

The pastry is booming (with 40 million euros of sales in 2007), and particularly with the attempt with Sephora that became a great success.

It profits of the trend of “greedy cosmetics”. The trend continues to broaden itself internationally, and extend it. Ladurée elate its consumers in a sweet world.

The group want to confer an image of international luxury’s trend, but it prefers maintain a reduced distribution network, to conserve this Parisian and exclusive image.

III- Ladurée

In France, Ladurée is mainly located to Paris in 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th rounding along with Versailles and the airport Roissy Charles de Gaulle.

At foreign, Ladurée is in several coutries such as the United States, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Quatar…

IV- Pastries

1) About Ladurée’s Chocolate

Bostock Cacao

Mont-Blanc Marron Cassis

Polonaise au Yuzu

L’Œuf pétale

2) And the famous « Macarons »

The « macaron » is the first-off of Ladurée. The story of this macaron begins with Pierre Desfontaine, the second cousin of Louis Ernest Ladurée who, in the middle twentieth century, had a good idea to place side by side two macarons and to garnish them with a delicious ganache. The recipe hasn’t changed since this date.

These small, round cakes, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, are made every morning in Ladurée’s “laboratory”.

The pastry chefs measure out very precisely the required amounts of almonds, eggs and sugar, before adding one final ingredient, a pinch of unique

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