To the good bread of Lévézou, the gourmet bet of Valérie and Philippe Colonges

Valérie et Philippe Colonges, Au bon pain du Lévézou. Pauline Chaliez

Installés à Vezins-de-Lévézou, Valérie et Philippe Colonges déclinent une gamme boulangère dont la réputation ne se dément plus. 

Philippe Colonges is the son, grandson and great-grandson of a flour miller, originally from Villefranche-de-Rouergue. "Flour, I know", he sums up with humor, and his wife, Valérie, adds < em>"He fell in when he was little".

"After a BEP in accounting and a CAP in office work, I served in the army. When I came back, I did a CAP bakery course in 1 year and I was selected as the best apprentice in Aveyron to participate in the regional final. At 20 I was a baker, at 22 I was a boss, the man continues.

At the time, he settled in Cardaillac in the Lot and sold his artisanal products in Figeac. Since his beginnings in 1986, he has ensured "make good bread without putting unnecessary products in it. I have always respected the salt dose currently recommended by the WHO. The white bread developed in the post-war period was very salty, we are going back in time", explains Philippe Colonges.

"My husband is passionate"

Valérie Colonges, his wife, also from the west of the department, tells how in 2003, they moved to Vezins-de-Lévézou: "My husband wanted to come back to Aveyron and this bakery was for sale among a dozen others. We visited and he suggested that we come and live here with our 3 children. I was already helping him in Cardaillac but I had seen my parents working together and I said to myself 'Everything but that!', but he has everything made me work with him", she says smiling.

In 2009, in addition to the bakery and grocery store in Vezins, they moved to Les Halles de Millau before crossing the street in 2013 to open their current bakery. "My husband is passionate about it, we use pure organic flours, without additives or improvers, made on stone millstones, to which we add good sourdough which makes the bread tasty and more digestible& quot;, specifies Madame.

"We make everything ourselves at least we know what's in our products. This is our philosophy, our customers are loyal, they come from Millau, its outskirts and the surrounding villages because the bread is organic, good and lasts".

Ecocert approval

Philippe Colonges manages the manufacturing part and the main accounting aspects while Valérie Colonges takes care of sales, administration and human resources. There are 5 of them in the team in addition to the couple: a baker worker, a pastry worker, their eldest son, and three sellers. Au bon pain du Lévézou has Ecocert approval "100% organic bread" which is renewed thanks to detailed controls, twice a year .

"Our overall approach is organic, not just the flour we use, specifies Valérie Colonges,& nbsp;this establishes our legitimacy and the quality values ​​that we carry". The "Boulanger de France" obtained in 2020 and renewed in 2023 has reinforced their ethical approach: "Everything is controlled, flour, invoices, fridges, cupboards, recycling, etc. And we obtained a very good score", rejoice the craftsmen.

“We are both very greedy”

The couple also offers sweet and savory pastries, pastries, a wide variety of pastries and pastries. special breads (nuts, dried fruits, olives, sesame, rye, small and large spelled and even khorasan), its famous sheep's milk fouace or his traçous from Lévézou whose name is inspired by a customer who always asked them if their "traçous" (children in patois) were fine when they were little.
Customer satisfaction is Ms. who collects it directly and transmits it to others. her husband. "We debrief when I get home and then we don't talk about work anymore. We are both very greedy. What we like is a nice slice of bread, a good raw milk cheese with a good glass of wine. The baker has also been making bread for the cultivation of Carles artisanal Roquefort penicillium for around 5 years.