Ariane Daguin: D'Artagnan Frais

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Ariane Daguin just recently assumed sole ownership of the company she co-founded, D'Artagnan, the nation's leading purveyor of foie gras, pates, sausages, smoked delicacies, organic game, and poultry. Superchefblog called Ariane to find out more. Former partner and co-founder George Faison had decided to purchase the company and announced plans on June 20 this year. Ariane admits that his decision did not come out of the blue: the two co-founders and partners were not seeing eye-to-eye and had different goals for the company. When George informed her of his intention, under their standard contract, Ariane had 30 days to accept or counter-offer. She decided to counter, much to his surprise. Ariane raised funds through Credit Industriel et Commercial (CIC) a French bank familiar with D'Artagnan's operations. She told superchefblog: I am eternally grateful to those people. They were incredible. I have never seen a bank like that in my 20 years of business. So, on August 17, the long partnership of Daguin and Faison dissolved, leaving Ariane sole propriator. There are some interesting changes chez D'Artagnan these days. Now, there is "one voice instead of two," Ariane notes, and "all employees are accountable for themselves." Read between the lines: the door of communication are wide open with Ariane at the helm. What else accounts for the "honeymoon atmosphere" she senses among her employess, who are showering her with suggestions? "Morale is high, " she says. As a result, Ariane has already decided to beef up D'Artagnan's R&D department and will be introducting a lot of new products, both extensions of existing lines and some new, "off-the-wall" products. Example? "We found a guy raising a blue foot, poulet a patte bleu, the same breed of chicken as the Poulet Bresse," Ariane told superchefblog. These chickens are fed wholesome grain, given no hormones or antibodies, and are finished off with a diet of bread soaked in milk to given the birds that distinctive moist, white flesh at a maximum of 85 days. She has recommended to the breeder to increase the square footage alotted each bird and to improve feeding and handling. Transportation remains unchanged, airfreight to all locations save Washington and Boston, where growing volume is increasing the efficiency of trucking, despite gas price hikes. Press release: Press release News stories: New Jersey Star Ledger Gourmet Retailer Magazine Previous articles: Foie Gras War 2: Ban All Poultry? Foie Gras War Super Chef vs. Governator: Todd English Fights For Foie Gras Rights Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog