Although charcuteries can be found in even moderate-sized towns throughout France, many French buy their charcuterie — pâtés, galantines, sausages, hams, and other prepared meat products — in packaged form from their local marché. But even in a prepackaged form, the variety available on a daily basis is large. Outside of France, the availability of genuine French charcuterie can be limited. In the United States, the situation is especially bleak. But, there is one charcuterie — Fabrique Délices — attempting to fill the void.

     I sat down with the principals of Fabrique Délices to discuss the business of creating genuine French charcuterie in the U.S. I met with Marc Poinsignon, President and Co-founder; Antonio Pinheiro, Chef and Co-founder; and Sébastien Espinasse, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. While I was at Fabrique Délices, I also had the opportunity to tour the plant and see the whole production process. The following is an edited version of our conversation and the plant tour.

à la carte: How did Fabrique Délices start?

Poinsignon: Fabrique Délices was established in the early ‘80s by the owner of a number of famous San Francisco restaurants — La Bourgogne, Ernie’s, L’Etoile — to supply his restaurants. He opened it to manufacture all his meat products. He also started a bakery to supply his restaurants. A French company named Sapar France purchased the company from him. Antonio and I were working for that French company. They sent us over here to operate Fabrique Délices. That was in June of 1985. We worked for the French company until the owner put Fabrique Délices on the market. Antonio and I purchased it in 1996. We didn’t want to change everything, so we kept the company name Sapar USA, and kept the brand name Fabrique Délices. In 2002, we moved the company to our current location.

à la carte: Are there problems translating French charcuterie to the American marketplace?

Poinsignon: There’re not too many problems. Our products are fairly authentic and made from the same recipes we had in France. Antonio [the chef] has been in the business since he was 14 years old. In France, he learned the traditional ways of making charcuterie. What we’re doing now and have been doing for the last 17 years is mostly the same. It’s a very authentic version of French charcuterie. There are a few recipes that have been modified, but for 90% of our products, if you brought them to France and did a blind taste test, people would not find a difference between what they buy there and our products.

à la carte: Is there a temptation to create new products which fit a “California” motif?

Poinsignon: Yes. You need to please your distributors. You need to please the stores because they want to offer something special. Some customers request something special and the stores want to be able to say, “Yes, we can offer that.” Then they come to us and say, “We need this new item.” And we do it. We make it happen. One example is our low-calorie pâté. We put together a “California” pâté as the answer to our customer’s questions. It is a low-calorie, all natural pâté. Also, there was a trend of vegetable pâtés and some other items. So we did those, too.

à la carte: It always seems counterintuitive when someone wants low-fat sausage or low-fat pâté since the mouth feel, part of what makes the product what it is, comes from the fat.

Poinsignon: Yes, exactly, but you’ve got to be able to come up with a good product. You’re not going to come up with a country-style pâté with no fat. That’s almost impossible. You’re going to have to create a different type of product and make it the way the customer wants it. For a low-calorie product, you’re going to use chicken meat or some other kind of meat that is low in calories, plus some vegetables. You have to make sure the product has good flavor and texture. It’s not always easy. But there are also people who want traditional products and therefore ninety percent of our product line is traditional and authentic. The other ten percent is here to please the other customers.

à la carte: Is there a problem getting the proper ingredients for authentic charcuterie?

Pinheiro: Yes, for charcuterie, there are very specific cuts of pork for each charcuterie product. In the U.S., the way they cut the pig carcass is completely different from France. Here we don’t have those special cuts to make specific products. We have to use different cuts, but they work. It’s not the perfect, traditional product, but it’s very, very close.

à la carte: I guess the fat is different in the cheek, than it is in the back, or in the belly.

Pinheiro: Exactly, the fat from the jowl or the fat from the back or the fat from the butt are all different. All of these fats are for different purposes. For example, when making a mousse with the fat from the jowl, the mousse will be very firm and not spreadable. If the fat is from the butt, the mousse will be very spreadable. So the source of the fat makes a difference. That’s the main problem with meat from the pig — the way they cut it.

à la carte: Where are you getting your foie gras from?

Poinsignon: It depends. We’ve been getting most of our foie gras locally from Sonoma Foie Gras, plus some additional from Canada. These have been the main sources. For the mousse, the C- and D-grade foie gras come from Hudson Valley. It depends on the season and pricing.

à la carte: It would seem that you could get the frozen Rougié foie gras from France for less money than the Hudson Valley.

Poinsignon: Well, in our case, no. We buy a lot of raw material from Hudson Valley. We buy rendered fat. We buy the duck legs to make the confit. We buy the magret to smoke. We buy the duck meat for the rillettes. When you buy 20,000 pounds of product every 2 or 3 months and you ask for a good price on foie gras, they will give it to you.

à la carte: If I remember correctly, the way the grades are specified by Hudson, is different from France. It’s almost more by size than quality?

Poinsignon: Yes, exactly. Not just Hudson, but all producers in North America. There is no grading regulation here. An A-grade liver in France is limited to 400 or 450 grams. There’s a limit. Even if it’s perfect, if it’s overweight, it cannot be an A. Here, they found out that chefs like bigger livers, so they sell it high-priced as an A. In France, it wouldn’t be an A.

Pinheiro: Yes, you have to meet the criteria.

à la carte: For my personal uses I tend to prefer the Rougié-brand livers from France. I find that the veins are smaller and easier to remove than in the Sonoma-brand liver. Plus, I can get the product for less money.

Poinsignon: It’s very true. The Rougié is a great product because it’s flash frozen. The liver is removed from the freshly killed duck and within an hour it’s frozen. It’s better to use a flash-frozen fresh liver than buy a fresh liver that’s already a week and a half old.

à la carte: At the restaurants I’ve worked with in France, most are using the frozen foie gras.

Poinsignon: Well, that way you have availability. You keep some in your freezer. When you want to make terrines, you pull them. Otherwise, sometimes you call your supplier and you say, “I want 10 pounds of fresh foie gras.” And he says, “Well, I’m sorry, but I’m sold out.”

Pinheiro: Rougié is very professional. They have the technology, the money…

Poinsignon: Rougié is a huge company. They have the people. They have the control of the farms and all the ducks. It’s number one.

à la carte: Another ingredient I’ve had problems obtaining is fresh blood. Is this a problem at the commercial level?

Poinsignon: No, actually we were the first to manufacture blood sausage with pork blood in the U.S. For a long time, I guess, there were restrictions and the USDA never approved a recipe with pork blood. Antonio was able to find the right blood and submit the labels. It was approved. So, our blood sausage is an authentic, true blood sausage.

à la carte: What’s the difference in working with U.S. regulators versus French regulators?

Poinsignon: It’s been 17 years since I’ve had direct experience with French regulators. For example, the ex-parent company, Sapar France, which produced all kinds of charcuterie — pâtés, sausages, and other products — was inspected only once in a while by the local veterinarian. That’s the same veterinarian who gives shots to the dogs, etcetera. And they come once in a while and, of course they come from the same village, and they’re friends. The USDA is here two or three times a day. They have an office here on site. They come in the morning, they come in the afternoon. And their inspections are very thorough.

à la carte: Are the inspectors a problem?

Poinsignon: Some of the local inspectors are like cops. They walk in the place and if you don’t smile or give them what they want, they are going to start looking for this and that, they’re always going to find something. But the USDA has rules. We know the rules — sometimes better than some of the inspectors. So we know exactly what to do about labeling, about cooking, about refrigeration, about sanitation, about HACCP [Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points]… I mean, we know all these rules, so with the USDA we’re on the same level. It’s probably the best way.

à la carte: Do most of your products have a shelf life of about 5 to 6 weeks?

Poinsignon: Yes, on average, shelf life is limited. We manufacture the product, it stays here for an average of 5 to 10 days. Then it goes to the distributor who might keep the product for maybe an average of a week to maybe 3 weeks, if things are slow. Then it gets to the store and the shelf life is really limited. So it depends on how it’s controlled and where it goes in different parts of the country.

à la carte: Do distributors, rather than storing products under refrigeration, freeze them instead?

Poinsignon: Yes, definitely. We have no control over how distributors handle our products. In France there are shelf-life regulations, but in the U.S. there is no control about shelf life or pull dates for charcuterie. In Europe, perishable meat products have to be pulled at 21 days. Here there is no law. There is no control about pull dates. So you find products in the stores with a date that doesn’t make any sense. Manufacturers put a three-month pull date on the package and it is already spoiled. The problem we have is the distribution chain — between us, the manufacturer, and the store — there’s no control. There’s a lot of control in our plant by the USDA, but after we ship the product, there is a lack of control. The distributor can freeze the product and later thaw it out to sell it to a store. The store might put it in the freezer or put it in the fridge.

à la carte: In France, specific types of sausages have specifications as to their ingredients. Does the U.S. have similar controls?

Pinheiro: There is some limited control on which ingredients you can use and in what amounts. But for specific end products, there’s not. If we call a pâté, for example, a Parisian pâté, we can make it from whatever we want.

Poinsignon: Or, something like that, yes. Here there is more control about specific ingredients. For example, for foie gras there is a regulation. If you want to call it “mousse of foie gras” or “terrine of foie gras” there is a regulation.

à la carte: Even in America?

Pinheiro: Yes, the same regulation as in France. For some specialty sausages there are regulations. If, for example, you use more poultry than pork then you have a different “bug” [inspection icon] that shows that it is a poultry product versus a pork product. There is a fairly similar regulation in Europe for meat products. Where there is no regulation here is for the pull date on the product.

à la carte: With something like rillettes, are you required to define what rillettes are?

Espinasse: We have a product called “Rillettes du Périgord.” In France, if your label says Périgord, it has to be from the Périgord. It’s like the A.O.C. [Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée] Here, it’s acceptable to use a name like that even though it’s not from the Périgord.

à la carte: Is it important to be thought of as authentic French? Does it help in the marketing of your products that the three of you are French?

Espinasse: Yes. For example, I was at Larry’s Market in Seattle talking about our products. Being French and representing a French product is helpful. There were 25 people present. I had to start with the basics — what is a pâté? what is a mousse? what is foie gras? But not go into too much detail. They were very interested to learn. We were informing the store’s staff because the staff has a lot of product to take care of, and pâté seems to be the last product they would put on the shelf. Cheese is very popular. So is smoked meat, ham, and items like that, but pâté seems to be something that people don’t think about. They’re not very comfortable with pâtés, yet.

à la carte: I also think people don’t know how to eat pâté.

Espinasse: Yes. They don’t know it’s cooked. Most of the time when I do demonstrations at stores, people come to see me and ask, “Is it cheese?” They don’t know what it is and what it’s made of. And sometimes doing presentations in front of people and being French is a big advantage. You know, you’re talking, you have an accent.

à la carte: The accent is important?

Espinasse: The accent is important. You may make people laugh, but they are focused, trying to listen to what you are telling them. My accent sometimes is not very easy to understand. And sometimes when I speak, when I am comfortable with a topic, I speak much faster — like if I was speaking in French. All this makes it harder for people to understand me sometimes. But people end up very happy trying the product. They talk with you. They want to know where you are from. They want to know the story of the foie gras and how it’s made. It’s a very friendly atmosphere. I love to make presentations — they’re sort of fun. When I go into the room, the store people say, “It’s Sebastian, the representative from Fabrique Délices. It’s the French guy from the Périgord.” Right away the people listen to me and what I have to say.

à la carte: And the accent adds a degree of authenticity?

Espinasse: Yes, absolutely. I have a strong accent and I am passionate about food. When I’m making presentations, I’m not trying to sell product. I’m just passing on information. We can sell anything. But we have to keep the pitch consistent and to work for the long-term, which is the most important thing. It’s what we are trained to do — selling quality products for a long time. Also to be in high-end stores, you need to have quality and consistency.

à la carte: Do you sell strictly through distributors, or do you have some direct sales, too?

Poinsignon: Yes, for example, we sell directly to the airlines if the order is large. We sell to cruise lines and airlines, direct and through distributors. Ninety percent of our business goes through distributors. We also do business with people like Sysco Foods. We have a contract with all the Sysco outlets. We receive orders on a daily basis and drop ship the products directly to their customers by express shipping. It’s a different way of distributing the product.

à la carte: As a percentage of the cost of the product, isn’t shipping quite expensive?

Poinsignon: If it’s overnight it’s very expensive. For small orders, the shipping alone is higher than the actual product cost. If the customer only buys 3 pounds of pâté, it’s going to cost them $50, including shipping.

à la carte: Do people actually buy just 3 pounds?

Poinsignon: Yes, sometimes. If a chef has vegetable pâté on his menu and he is out, he’s going to order two or three. We’re going to ship the pâté to him and he’s going to pay his supplier. I don’t know if he’s paying for the whole shipping or not. That’s an agreement he has with his supplier. Sometimes they have a yearly contract and they might get a deal. In any case, we will charge the supplier for the freight. Definitely.

à la carte: Judging by the quantity of product you produce, I expect that you ship most of the time in large quantities loaded on pallets?

Poinsignon: No pallet loads. We usually ship with small, insulated containers — between 150 and 300 pounds each. That’s the most economical and the most flexible way of shipping throughout the country. In that case, the freight is about, on average, 25 to 35 cents per pound. And it’s usually delivered within 36 hours. Sometimes they deliver the next day.

à la carte: So, is that by refrigerated truck rather than air freight?

Poinsignon: Except for local orders, always air freight. We do a lot of air freight. We have special containers with insulation and blue ice. The boxes are packed and dropped off in the morning at the shipping company. The customer usually gets the product the next day. So it works really well for the customers because it’s a fairly inexpensive way for them to get the product within 24 to 36 hours.

à la carte: In one sense, traditional raw and poached French sausages are somewhat limited. I notice you’re adding smoking capabilities, which will broaden your range of sausages produced. Do you see adding dried sausages to the product line, also?

Poinsignon: Dried sausages would be extremely hard because you need special equipment and drying rooms. You need technology that’s pretty costly. Plus, there’s a lot of local competition already. There’s a lot of people around here that already make that type of product. What we might do is produce specialty sausages — high-end, gourmet types of sausage like game sausages. That’s a possibility because we already have all the equipment required to manufacture and sell the product. And we always want to stay in the upper or high end of the market. We want to stay gourmet.