2023-08-21 10:17:25
As on many farms, Philippe Cocagne looked in 2008 for a way to bring added value to the milk production of his Ferme du Bois Louvet in Saint-Jean-de-la-Lecqueray in the Eure. It was through an advertisement that he discovered the Dutch concept of “farm ice cream” with a recipe based on custard and sorbets without colourings. With no franchise or royalties, the brand quickly made a name for itself in frozen desserts. In fifteen years, it produces 80,000 liters of ice cream per year, opens a shop on the small port of Honfleur from April 1st to the All Saints holidays as well as during the Christmas holidays, is referenced in the Guide du Routard and comes mainly from be ranked 5th among the best ice cream parlors in France on the TripAdvisor site and in the Top 15 of the best sorbets by the national daily “Le Monde” with its “Apple Calvados”.
In the laboratory managed by Isabelle Cocagne, in addition to hygiene, the standard is quality: “First, we select our raw materials mainly locally and in season such as rhubarb, tomatoes, foie gras, calvados , basil, strawberries, etc. The egg yolks come from the Ferme du Pré Servi’Œuf in Éragny-sur-Epte in the Somme, our Williams pears from the Loiret, the melons from the Loir-et-Cher and the apples from the Loire Valley. »
The manager claims the use of milk from the farm “because making ice cream with powder and water doesn’t give the same smoothness or the same tastes as at home. Inevitably, for manufacturers, the powder is easier to transport, store and implement. Same for our sorbets, 20% fruit is not the same as our 50%. Here, we bite the fruit! In addition, we do not artificially overrun our ice creams. We don’t bring in air to make volume. With us, a 2.5 liter container can weigh up to 2 kg against 1.2 kg elsewhere. »
Over the years, with their team of 9 full-timers (7 permanent, 20 seasonal) nearly a hundred flavors have entered the ice cream parlor’s catalogue, always with vanilla, salted butter caramel, more recently the strawberry-basil or even the essential mango, raspberry and lemon: “We also remain attentive to our customers. For a restaurateur, we made an ice cream with olive oil from Provence and for a creperie, one with buckwheat. It is our strength! argues Philippe Cocagne.
Calvados apples, the success of the summer
With this know-how, the Ferme du Bois Louvet sends its production to a geographical area that goes from the west of Neubourg to Caen, 40% to restaurants, 30% to its shop on the farm and its stall in Honfleur and the rest in short circuit in grocery stores, farm shops, creameries-cheese “except in supermarkets”. The number of customers is growing, especially since a new media spotlight. Already referenced in the “Guide du Routard” of Honfleur as an address not to be missed, a journalist from the daily “Le Monde” stopped by the shop anonymously: “He loved our calvados apple sorbet made with three types of apples cooked in compote with the skin where is the taste, sugar and Norman calvados. At 73°C, there is no more alcohol, but the flavor remains. It is the concept of the Norman hole which is very popular with the public and especially with restaurateurs. Since then, we are only asked that [rires]. We get calls and emails from everywhere. Even from Vancouver, but we can’t ship there! smiled the manager.
And that’s not all, because recently, the American online booking site TripAdvisor ranked Les Glaces de la Ferme du Bois Louvet in the middle of the Top 10 of the best ice cream parlors in France: “We are delighted and confirmed in our choices. . We now produce all year round and we will have to push the walls for the storage of raw materials and finished products. This is our short-term objective”, announce Isabelle and Philippe Cocagne.
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