Basque cloth or Breton bowl, are your handicrafts authentic?

Study Time:

3 minutes

Are the local souvenirs that families want to bring back from their vacations actually made on site? Find our advice on buying Laguiole knives or Marseille soaps.

Food is not the only local product loved by tourists. They are present in all regions and carry traditional local knowledge. Finally, when they don’t sink under the piling fakes. The problem is that current indications for food products such as PGI and AOP are less developed in this regard. Our advice for sorting.

Marseille soap: Inquire about the place of manufacture

These scented and colorful soap bars are attractive on stalls and boast the Savon de Marseille label. “Their manufacturers don’t respect our strict production criteria,” laments Daniel Photo, manager of the Le Sérail soap factory in Marseille. But they cannot be sued because the brand is too generic and cannot be protected. As a result, we no longer count imports of more or less good quality. So if you are looking for authentic Marseille soap made on site this summer, you should first pay attention to the names of the producers. Only four remain: Fer à Cheval, Sérail, Midi and Marius Fabre soap factories. Also, their cubes and breads are made from a maximum of four ingredients: at least 72% vegetable oil, soda, water, sea salt and that’s it. No fragrance, no coloring, no preservatives, no additives. And several days of cooking above 100°. Along with these purists, there are other brands that claim to produce quality Marseille soaps rather than in Bouches-du-Rhône. In the Lower-Atlantic, we even find that, in the name of the production process, widely shared across the region… If you are close to Canibéar, not ideal for a souvenir…

Basque and Provençal fabrics: Don’t think that everything is produced on site

Table cloths, cushions, sheets… to decorate your home and keep a souvenir of your vacation, there’s nothing like bringing back beautiful fabrics from the region’s famous regions like the Basque Country and Provence. However, most brands that proudly display traditional knowledge have outsourced all or part of their production to reduce production costs. On her site, even Jean Vier, one of the most famous people in the Basque Country, honestly says: she has these clothes made in Portugal. This obviously does not reduce their quality. But if you’re really looking for local fabrics, you have to be persistent. Not likely to find in markets. A very few brands that still manufacture locally prefer to have their own stores or go through specialized resellers. It is Moutet (Orthez) and Lartigue 1910 (Ascain and Bidos) that are the only two companies still weaving in the Basque region that can receive the Protected Geographical Indication (GI) label. Another example, this time in Les Olivades near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, has the last factory to print fabrics with traditional Provençal motifs, made in the Vosges.

First Name Bowls: 100% in support of purchases made at Breeze

For those vacationing in Brittany, a bowl personalized with a first name, handles in the shape of little ears and decorations on the bottom are a classic to bring in your suitcases. Nearly a million are sold each year. But how can you buy for sure? A porcelain truly made in Brittany ? The sector’s largest company, Finceres de Bornique, imports its fired clay supports from Portugal, for example, before decorating them in the Loire-Atlantique. As a result, it allows to display attractive prices of around 11 euros for a traditional bowl. Until recently, a second producer, Céramiques de Cornouaille, did the same. “But we decided to send everything back to Brittany, near Quimper,” explains its manager Xavier Duterte, who invested three million euros and managed to get around 10 euros at a very competitive price. However, at this price, there is no point in expecting a completely hand-painted decoration. Only Henriot Faïnceries in Quimper still makes it (as well as the entire production process). Prices are obviously very high, around 40 euros.

Laguiol knives: know how to separate fact from fiction about their origin

The conflict is not over. For many years now, the cutlers of Laguillon in Aveyron have been at war with more in the town of Thiers in Puy-de-Dôme. The former are absolutely keen to maintain the uniqueness of their famous knife production, while the latter claim to be able to produce them in the name of long-recognized expertise that has enabled them to be key subcontractors to their Aveyron colleagues. In 2022, the INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property) denied this monopoly to Laguille producers, while allowing those from Thiers to display the geographical indication “Coteau de Laguille” for their own production. But last July, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal overturned both decisions. A real mess. If you want a knife that is truly made in Laguel, be careful: for example, the usual signs of recognition, such as the famous bee between the handle and the blade, are not enough to guarantee its provenance, because there is no protection. It is important to check that the knife is actually made by a member of the Aveyron Manufacturers Association (ig-couteaudelaguiole.fr).