A long time ago, Poilâne was the standard (or a standard) for bread in Paris. Maybe make that France – in the 1990s, I had lunch at Domaine Tempier in Bandol and they told me that they had Poilâne bread sent down to them twice a week.
Times change, but reputations – good or bad – are often hard to change. I’ve known for a long time that Poilâne’s bread has been surpassed by many, many other boulangeries, but many people coming here still regard it as the great place to go to.
Nevertheless, the situation is even worse than I had realized. As reported today in Le Figaro, the company went into receivership on January 19.
From the article (google translation):
But it was the administrative closure of the Bièvres factory (Essonne), following the discovery of serious hygiene breaches, that plunged Poilâne into an unprecedented crisis.
Following a surprise inspection on May 28, four inspectors from the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP) observed widespread rodent droppings and urine, dead rodents, flying and crawling insects, and their larvae. They also noted general filth on the equipment and premises, degraded storage conditions, and partially gnawed food products. By prefectoral decree, the factory, which accounts for 70% of the company’s production, was closed on May 30. It partially reopened on July 10, but has still not returned to its previous production levels.
The still-family-owned company is hoping to turn things around. Let’s hope they succeed.
