18 Feb La Dorade, the Companion* of Bread Enthusiasts.
With over two million loaves of “pain maison” sold every day in Mauritius, there’s no denying that bread is, in every shape and form, the staple food of Mauritians. Since 1983, J Rae & Cie (La Dorade) is dedicated in spreading the word about good bread and strives to enhance and diversify the sector, generation after generation.
Yeast
In 1983, the founder of the family business, Joseph Rae, knew there was a niche market in the bread industry and he chose to provide a key ingredient to its making, Mauripan yeast. And so began the story of La Dorade and bread.
Yeast, where it all started…
The company started small, with 1,780 Mauripan boxes every six months, but through tenacity, orders increased to 2,000 boxes per month. Thanks to the efforts of a wilful team and Anthony Rae, son and right-hand man of the founder, the company developed and added more bakery ingredients to its offerings.
Equipment
Professional equipment followed logically: ovens, retarder-proofers, freezers, moulders and other machines of the best international brands brought all the advanced technology needed by the industry. La Dorade is also the exclusive distributor of “Bongard” in Mauritius and the Indian Ocean, offering on demand bi-weekly or weekly maintenance of the equipment by a team of qualified and authorized Bongard technicians.
Bread for All
In 1992, to celebrate its clients’ trade, La Dorade contributed to La Fête du Pain (bread festival) where the famous French singer, Pierre Perret, was invited by the local flour-milling industry. In 2013, the company wanted to share even more its passion for breads and decided to organize for the first time its own event and tastings during the festival.
La Dorade celebrates La Fête du Pain (bread festival) around the island
Bread making is a profession as well as an art that everyone can enjoy. With this in mind, the company decided to make professional quality accessible to all and opened La Boutique Gourmande, an ingredients and accessories shop designed for individuals. Our extensive range includes different mixes and premixes for bread dough so bakers in the making can treat their loved ones with homemade loaves.
A Partnership in Tune
The latest project is a partnership with “Dough Rae Me” so our customers and prospects can see for themselves our equipment. But this is not a simple showroom. “Dough Rae Me” aims to be a laboratory where machines and ingredients can be discovered, tamed, tested and, we can confidently add, adopted!
La Dorade was founded by contributing to the bread industry and will continue to go the extra mile to promote a good bread culture. If the bread remains at the heart of our traditions, its production methods are constantly evolving and new trends emerging on its scene. La Dorade commits to keep up with the market tendencies and offer the latest advances to its customers, be they small, medium or large size businesses, whether in Mauritius or in the Indian Ocean.
* The word “companion”, from Old French compaignon, literally “one who breaks bread with another”, based on Latin com- “together with” + panis “bread”.