This week for the food and drink series we meet with Aymar Gourdet whose brand ‘Le Skinny Chef’ is gaining a foothold in the Irish market. Aymar grew up in the Normandy region of France but he has been living in Ireland for over 20 years and last year set up his own food business in Portlaoise.
For 16 years he ran his own restaurant in Kildare town but in recent times he had many requests for some of his own produce – so much so that he decided to get into it full time. The lease on his restaurant was up last year so he sourced a premises in Clonminam in Portlaoise from where he makes his range of jams, chutneys, pestos and soups and looks after the packaging, selling and distribution as well as giving demonstrations.
We visited on a Wednesday morning where he gave us a tour and told us the full story.
He spoke about working with flavours and using his imagination and taste for food to bring together his products – which centre on being gluten free, vegan and dairy free.
The name ‘Le Skinny Chef’ comes from the nickname that was hoisted on him by his restaurant customers over many years. “My name was very hard to pronounce,” he says, “so a lot of the customers used to say ‘how is the skinny chef this evening’. They couldn’t believe I was a chef and I was so skinny so I decided to call it ‘Le Skinny Chef’ so that my customers in the restaurant would recognise it.”
Aymar is planning on exporting his goods abroad within the coming months starting with Dubai and in 2018 he will be launching his product in France at the Salon de l’Agriculture. This is one of the biggest shows in the world which takes place at the end of February.
He will be representing Ireland with his product, promoting Irish food and has teamed up with the French ambassador in Ireland.
How did this business start?
My business began as I wanted to create a product that I was serving in my restaurant and that reached a bigger audience. Three years ago customers were asking to bring stuff home. People were calling to order the product, there was a big demand.
So we started selling more at local farmers market. Last year the contract was finishing up in the restaurant so we decided to close the restaurant and take the chance to try expand the product. With two small children at home, managing a personal life was difficult with running a restaurant. I picked Portlaoise because of the good location.
What’s your background?
My parents owned a guesthouse back home in France and I grew up helping to cook and get food from the garden, and raise hens etc and learning to understand and appreciate good food. Everything was cooked from the garden and I developed a very aware palette for flavors of food from a young age. I want to give my customers that experience.
What are the best/worst things about working in this industry?
It’s a different experience from the restaurant, building relationships with customers and seeing them frequently is what I miss most. But now meeting people in supermarkets during demonstrations is enjoyable.
The best thing now is the possibility to work with different flavors in food and try out different things. There was the creativity part in the restaurant too, but it was very demanding and required lots of long hours so there wasn’t as much time to experiment with different products and flavors. There is definitely more of a social aspect from what I am doing now and my personal life is much better.
If you weren’t working at this, what would you be doing?
I would still be running my restaurant. Business in the restaurant was actually getting better but I wanted to take the chance to try this and show my talent.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received along the way?
Branding. Investing in your branding is very important. You need good branding for the public to identify with your product. The logo I chose for my product is very catchy.
Who else is involved in the business?
No one at the moment. I have been managing everything myself, from cooking to demonstrations, to sales. I do hope to focus on getting a team in place for the future. A few people are hired to help with the taste testing but no full time staff as of yet.
If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be?
The future plan is to develop a team, to get help from people that would give me more time to help develop the product. I’m always present in the supermarkets getting people to taste test.
Would you like to see the next generation carry on the business?
My children are still very young, Philip who is eight and Chloe who is three. they are very creative children and they like helping me with the simple jobs.
What makes this business different to your competitors?
My products are unique and authentic and it is a product that is made with good ingredients and made by someone who appreciates good food. A lot of thought goes into these recipes, and that’s what makes me different to my competitors.
What is the most challenging part of your business?
Trying to cope with everything at once. It’s very time consuming trying to manage everything.
It was great meeting with Aymar to hear all about his products, and Aymar will be launching his own showcase at the end of this month at his premises in Clonminum business park, Father brown avenue in Portlaoise.
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