I could not have escaped this virus. It had inoculated the family long before my first cry. Present in the kitchen, of course, but above all in the clothes, the furniture, the sheets — my world was made of nutmeg, paprika, oregano and cooking smells that lodged themselves in the curtains as much as in my memory. The fragrance virus had struck, and so had the label they gave me: the spice merchant's son. Less glamorous, admittedly, than the son of a banker, a prime minister or the King of Siam — but knowing my parents' journey, I felt a certain pride. After all, it was more original than the son of the insurance broker, the cloth merchant or the finance ministry clerk.
Looking back, between the spice clouds at home, my father's car that smelled of the food factory and my mother who cooked dishes that were not always delicate but always tasty, I had little chance of ending up a doctor or an engineer.
The big advantage of being an only child is that, basically, you bore yourself and have no one else to bother. Beyond sports — football, to which I still devote a consuming passion — I devoured books and books. It was that or end up on Valium. Very early on I plunged into history, geography and above all the biographies of famous figures, three of whom helped me move forward: Winston Churchill, alone against the storm, was a comfort in difficult moments (never, never, never give up); Mahatma Gandhi for his everyday wisdom and his non-violent handling of crises (Be the change you wish to see in the world); and Nelson Mandela for his stubbornness and his determination to rehabilitate ethnic justice in his country — I never lose. Either I win, or I learn.
Never, never, never give up.
I did try to play the rebel against fate by starting physiotherapy studies, but the call of entrepreneurship — especially in food — was stronger than anything else. After ten years spent alongside food technologists, training myself and asking a thousand questions, I founded Food Ingredients Technologies (FIT) in 1998. FIT develops and produces functional and aromatic ingredients for the food industry.
Since then it has been a long entrepreneurial journey, peppered with food, economic and personal crises. The loss of my friend and partner Serge Hirchovitch marked my path with a black stone — but also with a silent promise: to keep moving forward, innovating and defending our values. Every hardship engraved a little deeper, in my head and my heart, the conviction that one can make it tasty, safe and intelligent at the same time.
I was never a scholarly type, but I always had a great thirst to learn. I had promised my parents — who had not studied — that I would obtain a diploma related to my work. I kept my word, after the age of fifty. They are no longer here to see it, but wherever they are, I know I honoured our moral contract, and I can say without hesitation that my best university is called FIT and the school of life.
Better to aim for perfection and miss than aim for imperfection and reach it.
Steeped to the bone in this culture of ingredients — powders, coatings, aromas — I have decided to pass it on. To pass on knowledge, to share field experience, to raise awareness on subjects sometimes technical, often pressing, always concrete. My aim is also to demystify those famous powders: there is nothing magical about them, but used intelligently they can serve a healthier, more natural and more responsible food system — without forgetting the technical, economic and social realities.
If you too have questions about what is really on our plates, if you are looking for solutions rather than slogans, or if you simply enjoy talking about food with passion and without spin, we already have something in common. My only goal is to make this site a place for exchange, dialogue and — if possible — learning.