OUR STORY
ABOUT US
When we took over the farm in 2017, what would become the Breizh Café Farm consisted of 37 acres of land, comprising a barn, a farmhouse, a cattle shed, a pigpen and a farm shed. Renovation of the farmland was carried out primarily in line with agroforestry principles, bringing together trees, crops and livestock. In addition to restoring the hedgerows with hazel, chestnut, wild cherry, oak and beech trees, a thousand apple trees – more than eighty cultivars – were planted on the higher ground.
The agroecology we practice on the farm helps provide numerous environmental and societal services. The planting of over 3,000 bocage trees on the farm contributes directly to the fight against climate change by storing carbon in the soil through photosynthesis. These trees also provide shelter and a source of food to support and protect biodiversity. Among the Farm's many objectives, our main focus remains the cultivation of buckwheat as a tribute to the craft of artisan-crêpier, with some 25 acres of buckwheat sown in 2023 to be harvested for the next Buckwheat Festival in September 2023, and some 2,000 sq. m. of vegetable plots to ensure our Breizh Café restaurants in Saint-Malo, Cancale and Fougères are supplied with seasonal vegetables.
AGROFORESTRY
Agroforestry is about putting trees back at the heart of farming systems. It spans a wide range of practices and crop-tree associations. Combining orchards with meadows or orchards with vegetable crops is an agroforestry practice which has, historically, made it possible to group several types of crops. More broadly, bocage, hedgerows and all manners of integrating trees into the agricultural landscape are forms of agroforestry. Agroforestry provides many benefits to farmers and is recognized as a lever for the development of agroecology: crop diversification, habitats for biodiversity, microclimates and carbon storage.
PEASANTRY
ENVIRONMENT
HEALTH
BERTRAND LARCHER
Born on a farm near Fougères, Bertrand Larcher has always been passionate about great food. After graduating from the Dinard hospitality school he worked in restaurants in Geneva, then flew to Japan where he developed his project Breizh Café, which he also launched in France.
From the outset, Bertrand devoted himself to his native land of Brittany and to the people who work it, passionately committed to an environmentally conscious approach to agriculture.
Every aspect of his work reflects his focus on locally-sourced products and seasonal produce. This is the raison d'être of his farm in Saint-Coulomb, where he grows organic buckwheat, vegetables and a thousand cider apple trees of traditional varieties (some 80 cultivars). It is also the raison d'être of the Maison du Sarrasin: to put this seed, so full of flavor and virtues, in the spotlight as an essential part of Brittany's farming and culinary traditions.
ALEXANDRE FORGEOUX
Born into a farming family based in Saint-Coulomb and the son of Cancale oyster farmers, Alexandre Forgeoux has returned to his roots.
After starting his career in agricultural development and farmer training at Ver de Terre Production, Alexandre joined the Breizh Café Farm in April 2023 to oversee vegetable farming projects alongside Stéphane Auvray.
The type of agriculture he advocates is agroecology: living soil farming that fosters life, in line with Bertrand Larcher's ambitions for growing our vegetables at the Breizh Café Farm.
The cycle of natural fertility, the understanding of ecosystems and the soil's ability to function as a recycling unit for living matter are the pillars of this approach.
37 Acres
25 acres of buckwheat
2000 sq.m. vegetable plots
2017 ouverture de la ferme
3000 trees
30 vegetable varieties
60 apple variety
1000 apple trees
THE FARM IN NUMBERS
The Breizh Café Farm is a project that brings together our Breizh Café values and reinforces our desire to promote the influence of farming and the richness of the Breton terroir.