Our region has talent: L'Essencier

Did you grow up here or did you choose to live here later on?

My grandmother is from here, and working on the farm is a family affair. We’re the third generation to farm in Icogne, and it was an obvious choice for me to continue on the path.

What are your interests? Are they closely or distantly related to your job?

Yes, my interests have always been linked to nature, whether it’s through skiing or hiking.

What led you to work at L’Essencier? What do you do and what do you love about your job?

I enjoy the contact with nature, the fact that we can shape the landscape with an incredible product, medicinal plants, which have so many different benefits. We don’t just grow plants, we transform them into either sweets for Ricola, cosmetics for Weleda or essential oils. It’s amazing to grow plants that have many different virtues, and we can share them with the world in many different forms.

What is special about L’Essencier? What do you think sets your family business apart from others?

As I mentioned before, it’s a family business, and we’ve been producing medicinal plants for 25 years now. We produce plants: we sell them dried (for Ricola and Grand St-Bernard herbs), we work with essential oils, which we sell to a few cosmetic companies, and we also sell them directly from home. We also have a new project: we’re working with bakers in Valais, and we’re rotating crops with ancient cereals. For example, we grow rye and Lens wheat. This new project allows us to use the land to bring the heritage of ancient grains back to life.

What can you tell us about the story behind your company and your products?

My grandparents have always used medicinal plants to heal themselves, so the story is in my genes. My father was the first to start growing plants for Valplantes, then when I arrived, we converted to organic and developed this sector.

What are you trying to bring to your customers through your business and your products?

We’re looking to offer quality products, while offering traceability throughout the whole chain: from the seed to the seedling to the finished product. As artisans, we try to show the full extent of our work, the whole chain from cultivation to the finished product. For example, when people come to visit the distillery, they can see where the plant grows. In the aromatherapy business, since these are quite popular products, there are lots of people looking for profit and who cut oils, making products that are of a much lower quality.

How has this very peculiar Covid period been for you? Have you been affected? How did you have to adapt?

Because of the lockdown, our staff had to stay at home. So I worked with my wife, and I even got my children involved. We worked every day to meet the demand to supply pharmacies with essential oils, as they were out of stock due to the high demand for essential oils (oils for the immune system). We were able to continue working, as we’re considered a drugstore. Also demand in our online shop doubled, and even tripled. We had more work, but less staff. So we had to organise things differently. We were even impacted by Covid in the US, as Ricola sold a lot of lemon balm sweets there, and as a result, there was even more demand on us to provide the plants required.

What’s your favourite place in Crans-Montana, your secret spot? Do you have a place you can share with us?

I love the Châtelard hill with the Christ-Roi statue overlooking it, because the environment there can be like areas in Haute Provence, it’s a very dry area.

Do you have an anecdote related to Crans-Montana, something that has marked your relationship with the region?

When I was young, I did an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker. As part of it, I made Roger Moore’s carnotzet. I was proud to say that I was part of that!

What would you like to see develop in Crans-Montana?

Local producers with shops selling products directly, to promote local products, because we have a lot of farmers in the Crans-Montana region that do a lot of different things and with very specific products, all on the outskirts of a touristic area that attracts a lot of people. This would make it possible to present and sell local products to tourists.

For more information about L'Essencier, to organise a visit or buy products (essential oils, soap, infusions and much more), go to the website www.essencier.ch

And you will find a list of all the distilleries in the Crans-Montana region.