Paysan Breton wins the 2024 award for excellence
30.01.2024
Paysan Breton wins the 2024 award for excellence
Early this year Paysan Breton was awarded the Prix d’Excellence by the Concours Général Agricole (General Agricultural Contest) during an official ceremony at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Our president, dairy farmer Guy Le Bars, attended the ceremony in Paris in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture and the Chief Commissioner of the Concours Général Agricole, where he received the 2024 Prix d’Excellence on behalf of the company.
An award that honours our know-how, the efforts of our dairy farmers and employees in producing the finest dairy products, and the quality of our products.
Prix d’Excellence, la creme de la creme
For almost 25 years the Concours Général Agricole has been awarding the Prix d’Excellence to producers to reward them for the excellent results they achieve in the contest. The objective is to promote the quality of the work done over time by rewarding producers whose products are regular prize-winners at the Concours Général Agricole. In 2024, just 37 companies received awards, and only one in each category. Our award was granted for the Butter, Cheese and Cream category.
Three award-winning products in the last three years
Laïta has received Prix d’Excellence awards for the past three years for the quality of three Paysan Breton products.
- Paysan Breton slightly salted moulded butter (gold medal 2022 and 2023)
- Madame Loïk plain whipped cheese with Sel de Guérande salt (gold medal 2020* and 2023)
- Thick Creme Fraiche 30% (for food service professionals - silver medal 2020* and bronze medal 2023)
We’re also the only company to have won a prize in the Butter, Fromage Frais and Cream category, a highly-valued prize of which we are all extremely proud.
* The 2021 CGA contest was cancelled due to COVID; the last three years are therefore effectively 2020, 2022 and 2023.
What difference does the Concours Général Agricole make?
For 150 years the Concours Général Agricole has been awarding prizes (medals) that celebrate the taste and quality of products from the French agriculture sector in an effort to support the excellence and diversity of French expertise.
It’s the oldest, biggest and most selective agricultural contest and has no equal anywhere else in the world. Every year hundreds of producers present their products for evaluation by a jury of independent volunteers. Half of the jury members are professionals and half are expert consumers.
The jury’s decision is based on the quality and taste of the products. They may not award a medal at all if the quality is not judged to be sufficiently high. The awarding of a prize is not guaranteed - an implication that emphasises the excellence of those products that do receive awards!
An award for commitment over several years
The Prix d’Excellence is awarded to producers who have won prizes at the Concours Général Agricole for the last three years, based on the number of medals won. Paysan Breton is a regular prize winner at the contest and it’s a source of pride and motivation for us all. It’s also proof of the continuing faith that consumers put in us, because we never compromise on quality in the manufacture of Paysan Breton products.
For many years Paysan Breton has been committed to making dairy products exclusively from milk from Brittany and the Pays de la Loire region, in recognition of our local farmers (who own the company - it’s a cooperative!) and their animals. Choosing Paysan Breton means choosing trusted, local ingredients, and 99% French ingredients.