Because we love to cultivate our difference
100 years after its creation, our Great House is firmly oriented towards ever healthier and more responsible products, towards ever truer and more attentive relationships. And that is because the women and men of Grands Moulins de Paris have made choices.
• The choice to adopt a simple and true approach, from the culture of the grain to the flavor of the bread, from the selection of ingredients to the tasting.
• The choice to be committed to the good, for the pleasure of creating quality products stemming from a tradition and know-how that we pass on all over the world.
• The choice to always be as passionate about our profession as millers and about the joy of sharing it, day after day, with pride.
• The choice to be forward-looking, positively and responsibly, to promote sustainable agricultural, production, and transportation techniques, to source our wheat as close as possible to our mills.
The origin of a great century-old house
1914-1918 – World War I
As the war drags on, the people are hungry and revolt is brewing. In 1917, Ernest Vilgrain, the 3rd generation of a lineage of Lorraine millers, is called to the government of Georges Clémenceau, where he joins as Undersecretary of State for Supply. His primary mission: to feed the people. His success in this matter earns him the nickname “keyholder of the national pantry.”
1919 – Creation of Grands Moulins de Paris
Building on this expertise, Ernest Vilgrain, along with his brother Marcel, founded the company Grands Moulins de Paris in April 1919, just after the war. An extraordinary story begins. Joined by a handful of men, all from the milling expertise, they decided to build the largest industrial mill in the world to sustainably meet the supply needs of the population.
It was in the summer of 1919 that the first stone of this emblematic building was laid, Quai de la Gare in Paris, inaugurating the era of industrial milling. The ambition is strong: 6,000 quintals of wheat must be ground every 24 hours. An ambition quickly achieved and even surpassed.
In 1923, more than 7,900 quintals of wheat are milled per day, which is twenty times the production of the 20,000 other mills spread across the national territory. The pace will reach 9,500 quintals per day by 1925.
1929 – Creation of the first bakery school in France
Back from the war, there are no longer enough bakers and the know-how is being lost. Grands Moulins de Paris has therefore decided to create the School of Bakery and Pastry of Paris (EBP Paris) to address the labor shortage, preserve, and pass on the baking know-how.
A miller's know-how and innovations for 100 years
Click on the different dates to discover the entire story behind it.
In 1965, 8 major regional mills came together to create a flour brand with national reach. Thus, Francine, born from the contraction of “France” and “Flour,” was born. The brand began by marketing essential products: Wheat Flour (1965) and Fluid Flour (1968).
In order to offer different products to consumers and respond to the growing competition, Grands Moulins de Paris launched in 1968 the first flour blend for artisan bakers: country bread.
At that time, there were no longer enough puff pastry masters in the bakery industry. Bakers lack the time to make their own puff pastry while the demand is growing. In partnership with Délifrance, Grands Moulins de Paris has established a selection of the best frozen products in baking. The launch of the frozen offer in 1979 was a true renewal for bakers, at a time when their profession was diversifying.
Over the years, we have been able to innovate and diversify with a wide range of pastries, cakes, and catering products to best support artisans in their daily lives while capitalizing on a strong brand created in 2002: Les Recettes de mon Moulin.
Our offer today meets the needs of consumers while developing the business of our clients. For each product we develop, we ensure that the ingredients are well chosen and that the artisanal know-how is respected.
The bakery brand “Ronde des Pains” was created by Grands Moulins de Paris in 1986. It was commercially operated until 2015.
Grands Moulins de Paris launches the first baguette under the brand Campaillette in 1989: the Campaillette Des Champs. The brand now has a range of 9 flours.
Grands Moulins de Paris is the leading player in the business transfer transaction with dedicated teams. The Financial Transaction Advisors (CTF) assist artisan bakers in the search for business transfers and the financing of their projects.
VIVESCIA officially emerged in 2012 with the merger of two major cooperatives in the East region: Champagne Céréales and Nouricia. The strong ties that were already established between these cooperatives and Grands Moulins de Paris are reinforced with a complete integration of our company into VIVESCIA, a French cereal cooperative group specialized in the cultivation and food valorization of cereals. We are proud to belong to the 10,000 farmers in the East of France.
In order to support artisan bakers in their development, Grands Moulins de Paris has created a new bakery network concept under the Campaillette brand. This replaces the Ronde des Pains concept, building on the success of the Campaillette brand for its baguette flours. Artisan bakers who join this network remain independent while benefiting from tools and services for their shop.
2019: a milestone year for GMP celebrating its 100th anniversary!
In a world where 80% of the jobs in 2030 do not yet exist, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019 is for a company both a showcase of extraordinary performance and an affirmation of confidence in the future.
To specifically build the celebration of this centenary, we relied on the richness of French popular expressions surrounding grain, the mill, and bread.
Discover the retrospective in images
On the occasion of its centenary, Grands Moulins de Paris launched several significant innovations based on key food trends:
• The search for new experience with the Campaillette Epoca baguette made with ancient grains and seeds
• Committed naturalness with Francine’s new organic multi-seed bread flour and a new organic yeast, and with Campaillette’s Grand Siècle Organic.
• Tailor-made solutions: GMP is the first miller to offer bakers its online product catalog to order in just a few clicks and simplify their daily routine 24/7!
2021-2022 – product innovations continue
• Blockchain on Francine Organic T55 flour: traceability from fork to fork with a highlight of expertise in partnership with Connecting Food.
• The creation of Berrouga, rich in legumes, double award winner at the 2021 Pépites de la Boulangerie and the 2022 SIRHA Europain Awards: an innovative milling blend rich in plant proteins, made from wheat flour and 100% French legumes.
• Towards more responsible flours with Cœur d’Epi, flour made from wheat sourced from soil conservation agriculture.
Grands Moulins de Paris strengthens its commitment to greater responsibility by jointly developing a 100% VIVESCIA group supply chain in the approach of soil conservation agriculture. This practice combines quality production in quantity, respect for soils and their biodiversity, and better recognition for farmers for their practices. The “Cœur d’Epi” flour is produced at the Brienne-le-Château mill and is sold exclusively to artisan bakers in the East, Île-de-France, and Rhône-Alpes regions.
2023 – Always more pioneering in digital
After the launch of its e-commerce site in 2019, Grands Moulins de Paris is proud to offer the first Marketplace dedicated to bakers at www.grandsmoulinsdeparis.com.
This online sales platform specifically brings together essential bakery products and equipment to continue saving time for all bakers in France. A true lever for simplifying daily life to develop their business.
On www.grandsmoulinsdeparis.com, bakers can find the complete catalog of Grands Moulins de Paris products, as well as products from merchants specifically selected for them. All the categories necessary for the daily operations of the bakery are offered: flours, ingredients, equipment and tools, hot and cold beverages, packaging, resale products, etc.
