To fulfil their international ambitions and meet Japan’s stringent quality control expectations, French macarons manufacturer MAG’M found in Ishida the ideal business partner.
A partnership focused on export
Founded in 2005 and part of the Onoré Group since 2022, MAG’M is a macarons manufacturer based in the Nantes region of France. From its humble beginnings in a small workshop in Geneston, the company soon grew in response to the growing appetite for their ‘made in France’ artisanal macarons, opening a larger factory in 2007. Today, hundreds of thousands of macarons are produced there every day.
Immediately, exporting stood out as a major opportunity for the company, with its custom-made macarons proving popular with foreign buyers. Benoît Szczepaniak, factory manager of MAG’M, explains: “Nearly 70% of the macarons we produce here in Geneston are exported internationally. Our chocolate and raspberry flavours are among the most popular, but we also create custom recipes to suit local tastes, like a “matcha tea” flavour for Japan.”
MAG’M began to trade with Japan in 2021, soon becoming a major macarons buyer. However, the macaron manufacturer rapidly found itself confronted with Japanese quality standards, being stricter than those in Europe.
Mr Szczepaniak adds: “The rise of trade in Asia combined with the acquisition by the Onoré Group makes food safety one of the pillars of the MAG’M factory. It’s something in which we are investing heavily.
“We already had a metal detector and a checkweigher, but we needed to go further to meet Japanese standards. We quickly decided to invest in X-ray inspection equipment to strengthen our quality control procedures.”
On the recommendation of one of its clients in Japan, MAG’M turned to Ishida.
Laura Agoulon, Regional Sales Manager for Ishida, explains: “MAG’M wanted an inspection system that would meet the very strict requirements of the Japanese market.
“We had several X-ray inspection systems available in our Paris office, so we quickly organised tests in the presence of both MAG’M and one of their main Japanese customers. We focused on certain contaminants with very fine detection levels to allow us to refine our approach and to offer settings that were 100% tailored to their products.”
Read more latest industry news and developments in our free to download magazine.
Never miss a story… Follow us on:
LinkedIn: International Confectionery
YouTube: @ConfectioneryTV
Media contact
Joseph Clarke
Editor, International Confectionery
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 920
Email: [email protected]
