Industrial transfer of high protein and high energy mini cakes: the CTCPA accompanies La Picorée!

Founded by Pauline RENARD, the start-up LA PICORÉE offers high-protein and high-energy food alternatives to fight against undernutrition. Its first range of products " Les P'tits Pep's " are mini-cakes. The CTCPA has supported LA PICORÉE by transposing the formulation and the process to a semi-industrial scale and then by manufacturing pre-series. Pauline RENARD, founder, comes back with us on this support.

" After an in-depth benchmark, I turned to the CTCPA, which seemed to me to be the most relevant technical center in France to meet our needs [...] We worked in collaborative mode, in a logic of co-construction. The CTCPA positioned itself not just as a technical service provider, but as a partner.

How was the idea of creating LA PICORÉE born?

Undernutrition is a subject that is close to my heart because I was confronted with this silent disease with relatives who died of cancer. The realization I made at that time: The food market lacks a healthy, natural and appetizing alternative that meets the specific nutritional needs of undernourished people (high protein and calorie content).

Our goal at La Picorée? To provide an effective alternative with a rate of enrichment equivalent to oral nutritional supplements and which is more natural and tasty!



What does LA PICORÉE propose to fight against undernutrition?

Our first R&D objective was to create a product innovation. Our products had to be adapted to the elderly and people suffering from cancer, and be consumed all day long in a bite-sized format.

Our second requirement was texture and taste. We worked on a supple and soft texture for people with swallowing and oral problems. In terms of taste, we wanted something greedy but neutral enough to avoid the disgust of people who do not feel hungry.

We were keen to take these different requirements into account. That's why we created the "Picor'lab", a committee that brings together health professionals, patients and food industry experts. Our desire is to build each of our products FOR the patient WITH the patient! As a social and solidarity-based company, we sincerely believe in collaborative work.

Before launching our first range, we conducted a sensory study in partnership with the Montpellier Cancer Institute. We had 60 oncogeriatric patients test our sweetened mini-cakes. 85% of them said they really liked the vanilla almond mini-cake.

Our first range "Les P'tits Pep's" was released a month ago. They are mini-cakes with high protein and calorie values, composed mainly of ingredients from organic farming. Our products are gourmet snacks to be enjoyed at any time of the day! The first reference is sweet: vanilla almond. The second reference will be released in October 2022. It is a savory recipe: tomatoes and herbs of Provence.



Our products are available from our partner Bastide Le Confort Médical, in pharmacies and soon in care facilities (EHPAD, hospitals...), via home health care providers, collective catering and finally on our online store.

Why did you call on the CTCPA?

During the R&D phase, we formulated our recipes in the CIRAD/SUPAGRO laboratory. We quickly found ourselves limited in terms of machines and processes.
After an in-depth benchmark, I turned to the CTCPA, which seemed to be the most relevant technical center in France to meet our needs. The objective with the CTCPA was to pass quickly to the semi-industrial scale to be able to pass then to the industrial scale with our subcontractor partner.

La Picorée's team has been in regular contact with Marie-Luce LE BRIQUER and Gilles BERTHEAU, experts in cereal products, who have carried out a diagnosis of the products in order to evaluate their shelf life and aging. They provided us with recommendations so that we could reformulate them internally. Finally, we carried out pre-series at the CTCPA in Nantes.

I am delighted with this support both because the objective was completely achieved, the specifications were validated at the pre-industrial scale to move to the industrial scale and also because we worked in collaborative mode, in a logic of co-construction. The CTCPA did not position itself only as a technical service provider but as a partner. During our exchanges, we all shared our expertise in order to find solutions.

How will LA PICORÉE evolve?

Our goal is to gradually introduce new recipes to bring more diversity to our patients' plates. Our savory recipe with tomatoes and herbs from Provence will be released by October 2022. For the beginning of 2023, we aim to launch two new recipes: one with lemon and the other with cocoa-hazelnut. To complete our mini-cakes, we are also working on hyper-protein vegetable veloutés. A third range will be launched at the end of 2023.

Where can we find you soon?

We are planning events to coincide with :

• Journées Francophones de la Nutrition - November 16-18, 2022


• Pink October - October¹ to 31, 2022


• Blue Week - October 3-9, 2022


• Undernutrition Week - November 18-25, 2022

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Contact LA PICOREE
Website : La Picorée - Originally a personal story (lapicoree.com)
Linkedin - Instagram - Facebook
Contact : Pauline RENARD - pauline@lapicoree.com

Contact CTCPA
Marie-Luce LE BRIQUER - Grain Products Technology Project Manager - mlebriquer@ctcpa.org
Gilles BERTHEAU - Head of Cereals and Vegetable Proteins gbertheau@ctcpa.org

Project holders, start-ups: the CTCPA helps you to boost your innovative projects. Clarify, materialize, outsource, launch and develop your activity with the CTCPA. Discover all our services for you.

The CTCPA will help you to realize the products of your dreams, taking into account all the important dimensions for manufacture and develop food products healthy, tasty, in accordance with environmental values... Thanks to our material parkWe can set up a small production line to manufacture your products in pre-series, from a few dozen to a few thousand units in our technological halls, from the processing of raw materials to the packaging of your finished products.