Pastisserie Masimoudi

PÂTISSERIE MASMOUDI

A THING THAT’S CALLED PASTRY LOVE

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PÂTISSERIE MASMOUDI

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PROFILE

Pâtisserie Masmoudi specialises in luxury Tunisian pastries. Reflecting on 50 years of pastry heritage, Amani Hachani, Marketing Coordinator, shared a taste of the Masmoudi range with Phil Nicholls.

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âtisserie Masmoudi began in the kitchen of Moufida Masmoudi in 1972 in the Tunisian port city of Sfax. Mrs Masmoudi’s passion and skill for making traditional Tunisian pastries quickly spread to her children as the business steadily grew, balancing knowledge of the classic recipes with modern manufacturing practices.

The Pâtisserie Masmoudi synthesis of traditional and modern is evident in the company’s range of five varieties of baklava, the classic Arab layered sweet pastry layered with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey. Alongside the classic almond baklava, Pâtisserie Masmoudi produces versions with pistachios and a Lebanese-style walnut baklava. The Bourgeois Baklawa features a medley of nuts and the delicate Baklava Fekia is made with mille-feuille pastry and dried fruits.

Through the 1980s, Mrs Masmoudi fought to establish the profession of pastry chef within Tunisia. Pâtisserie Masmoudi formed as a company in 1991 around Mrs Masmoudi and her children. A website was launched in 2000, bringing in orders from around the globe. Further expansion came in 2008 when Pâtisserie Masmoudi opened a boutique pâtisserie on the chic Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris.

Pâtisserie Masmoudi currently has over 800 employees spread across 11 sites, plus manufacturing facilities in Sfax. The company has boutique outlets in Tunisia, France, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Pâtisserie Masmoudi

Pâtisserie Masmoudi also expanded into offering franchise options and enjoys resellers in Canada, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Algeria, Qatar and Dubai.

Picking out a product to highlight from the extensive Pâtisserie Masmoudi range is not easy, when individual tastes vary. As Amani Hachani, Marketing Coordinator at Pâtisserie Masmoudi, noted: “When a customer steps into a Pâtisserie Masmoudi shop, they come for the variety and quality. That’s why we are always aiming to offer the best for our customers, from shape to quality.”

Pastry mosaics The quality of the Pâtisserie Masmoudi selection is evident in the wide range of mouth-watering boxed pastries on offer. This line of beautifully presented mosaics is composed of pastry tesserae, each one a small work of gourmet art. Features include flowerlike patterns of pine nuts and tiny heartshaped slices of pistachio.

“The pastry sector is a very difficult market,” Ms Hachani explained. “We are talking here about the most difficult and

unique sense of a human being: taste. The hardest job in this industry is to satisfy your client and to ensure they return. That’s why Pâtisserie Masmoudi always makes sure that our products are of the highest quality. The most important thing is to innovate, to be unique and transfer to the client your passion through every bite.”

Now that Pâtisserie Masmoudi has a strong brand and a solid position in the pastry market, the company is focused on international growth, both physically and online. This led to the establishment of Masmoudi Canada, opening up the North American market. Pâtisserie Masmoudi products are now available on Amazon as the company explores new routes to reach clients and can now export to over 30 countries.

Pâtisserie Masmoudi works closely with suppliers, as Ms Hachani made clear.

Suppliers are “considered as shareholders” in the Masmoudi brand. “When you remember that our products involve a mixture of different ingredients, then each and every ingredient is as important as the final product itself.”

Pâtisserie Masmoudi

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Pâtisserie Masmoudi

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PROFILE

For weddings or a company Another bespoke option from Pâtisserie Masmoudi is its selection of corporate branded fine pastries. Presented within an individually branded box, Pâtisserie Masmoudi offers to print the client’s name onto the pastry itself, up to a limit of nine letters. The client can choose between mlabes or calissons, with a further option of flavouring choices. These bespoke boxes of gourmet pastries make perfect business gifts of welcome packages for hotels.

In parallel to these bespoke corporate options, Pâtisserie Masmoudi presents a range of customisable wedding products.

There are personalised selections of threeand four-piece boxes of pastries as wedding favours for guests. Pâtisserie Masmoudi can also supply catering options of trays filled with colourful pastry creations or presented in artistic tall cones or demi-sphere.

Ms Hachani conceded that the Covid pandemic hit the retail business hard, where there is direct contact with the client. The response of Pâtisserie Masmoudi to this challenge focused on expanding e-commerce and the willing spirit shown by the employees which reinforced the underlying family culture of the company.

The steps required to maintain the steady growth of Pâtisserie Masmoudi are clear

to Ms Hachani: “The true challenge here is to align with the market, especially each customer’s preferences and needs.” This requires managing “the necessary resources, starting from a qualified management team, productive operators, brand new machines, and effective quality control. Though, we are optimistic about the market both nationally and internationally, Pâtisserie Masmoudi is mostly relying on its capacity to adapt and react to market changes.”

Zrir and syrups The diversification of the Pâtisserie Masmoudi product range illustrates the ability of the company to adapt and change.

The classic offerings of pastries are now augmented with a biscuit selection and a range of cereal mixes. The company also sells a selection of savoury products such as black olive tapenade and harissa, a typically Tunisian condiment featuring ground red peppers. The link to Pâtisserie Masmoudi’s roots is also found in the company’s line of Tunisian zrir made with sesame seeds, honey, and hazelnuts.

Nor have drinks been omitted from the growing Pâtisserie Masmoudi selection.

The range includes syrups and floral waters including rose water, geranium water, and pistachio syrup. Masmoudi

also sells mint green tea, featuring tea and mint leaves made into a soluble powder “with as much elegance as traditional tea prepared in a teapot.” The mint tea is 100% natural and soluble.

Looking ahead to the future of Pâtisserie Masmoudi, Ms Hachani said: “We have learned to dream big with our plans, our resources, and our strategy.

All these elements have one aim and one goal, which is to become a leader nationally and internationally within the pastry industry. We just warm hearts up with sweet pastries.” n

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