So who better to tell you about our adventure than Gilles Galoux? From the seed of an idea to its creation, from the first slaps to the first smiles, from the initial brainstorming sessions to Xavier Thévenard's victory in the UTMB 2018, our founder-as-partner talks frankly about all our first times. It makes you realize that entrepreneurship is strangely reminiscent of the topography of an ultra-trail. With highs and lows, fabulous peaks and valley bottoms filled with questioning. The only difference is that this entrepreneurial ultra is run at a cruising speed rather like a sprint. Gilles admits: “These 5 years have gone by extremely fast. It seems like only yesterday, April 2017”. That's good, because the memories will be all the fresher. And the story all the more vivid...
The first stone: 'In a way, creating Baouw was a bit of a mid-life crisis for me!'
“For a long time, I worked in marketing development for major food groups in the Paris region. But the further along I got, the greater the gap between the products I designed and those I consumed on a daily basis, to the point where one day I found myself faced with my own contradictions. The desire to undertake and make my own contribution in line with my values emerged, as did the desire to get closer to the mountains that were home to my passion. In a way, creating Baouw was a bit like my mid-life crisis! I had only one obsession: to found a nutrition brand, in Annecy, that would respect nature, producers and people's health”.
The first observation: “There was no nutrition brand that spoke to all outdoor enthusiasts”.
The first intention: 'I've drawn up a list of ingredients that should make up the recipe for my ideal brand.'
“At that moment, I drew up a list of ingredients that should make up the recipe for my ideal brand. I wanted to combine something healthy, with respect for the body and nature; something gourmet, with surprising recipes that were out of the ordinary; something practical, with products that were easy to open and transport; and something communal, by rallying enthusiasts around a common playground and shared values.”
The founding trio's first meeting: 'An hour later, we looked each other straight in the eye and sealed the project with a firm handshake.'
'To give body and uniqueness to my approach, I knew I had to surround myself with an expert nutritionist, one of the very best in his field, and a Michelin-starred chef, capable of breaking the codes of the sports nutrition market. I first knocked on the door of the practice of Benoit Nave, nutritionist, osteopath and coach to top-level athletes, who spontaneously told me he loved the idea.'
'He too dreamed of a factory that could put his advice into practice, so that his athletes, dissatisfied with what they found in the stores, would no longer have to make their own bars and compotes at home. I then walked through the doors of two-Michelin-star chef Yoann Conte's restaurant, where I was received with great enthusiasm. The next hour, we looked each other straight in the eye and sealed the deal with a firm handshake. As someone who lives in Chamonix and loves the mountains, the concept spoke to him straight away!'
The first name and logo: 'Translating the ‘Boum’ of an explosion of flavors and the ‘Waouh’ of mountain sensations'.
'“In the beginning, communication was like the products: homemade! We didn't turn to an agency, since we had a clear idea of what we wanted: a name that translated the 'Boum' of an explosion of flavors and the 'Waouh' of fabulous mountain sensations; and a logo that showed our desire to become the troublemaker, a bit of a rebel, who breaks existing codes... ”'
The first batch: 'Frankly, the first batches of bars were more like big, unappetizing puddings!'
'“The first cooking sessions, behind Yoann's ovens, were full of funny situations. We hadn't necessarily realized that to make energy bars, we needed specific equipment, in particular a mixer that could mix the raw ingredients evenly, without cooking them! Frankly, the first batches of bars looked more like big, unappetizing puddings!” '
The first recipe: 'The very first bar we validated was the Pear-Almond-Green Tea!'
“The very first bar we validated was the Pear-Almond-Green Tea! It was quickly followed by 4 other recipes, 3 of which we kept, and which were among the most popular until the appearance of our new 50g energy bar. These were the 25g bar recipes: Cacao-Hazelnut-Vanilla, Citrus-Cashew-Meadowsweet and Blackcurrant-Almond-Gentian. For the record, the pear bar quickly disappeared, as we realized that the product did not keep well, and that as the months went by, the pear taste evolved towards a 'washing-up liquid' flavour!”
The first base camp: 'La Maison Bleue and its cooking pots have always been, and always will be, our product development HQ.'
'“La Maison Bleue, Yoann Conte's two-starred restaurant, and its cooking pots have always been and will always be the HQ for our product development. From 2017 to 2019, our offices were located in Seynod, near Annecy, where our stocks still reside. It was half start-up, half campsite! Since then, we've moved to Parc des Glaisins, in the epicenter of Annecy's outdoor world, where most of the major brands in the sector are based.'
The early days: 'I spent my days crisscrossing France to present our products and explain our approach.'
'“In the first few hectometres of our adventure, in April 2017, I spent my days criss-crossing France to present our products and explain our approach. We didn't even have a sales team back then! It was great fun! I did a series of in-store 'nutrition training sessions' to get our energy bars listed in as many places as possible. One of our strengths was that, right from the start, we enjoyed the confidence of Le Vieux Campeur and Biocoop, who distributed us in nearly 200 stores.'
The first difficulty: 'The lack of awareness we suffered from at the start was the main obstacle we had to overcome.'
'“When you start from 0, you row! Very few retailers are willing to list a product that nobody knows about. This lack of awareness, which we suffered from at the start, was the main obstacle we had to overcome. We're not going to lie, we took a lot of flak. As in sport, you have to be very resilient... Especially as the competition is immense. You could see a certain weariness in the eyes of the people we were trying to win over: 'Another sports nutrition brand? I see new ones every day! In concrete terms, beyond the marketing promise, what do you have that's different? With hindsight, looking back on these difficulties allows us to savor where we are today. With a thousand points of sale and online sales now well underway, Baouw is now within reach!'
The first satisfaction: 'You get up with enthusiasm in the morning, even if it's very early!'
«'“Despite the initial difficulties, we were always convinced that we were on the right track. Not least thanks to the extremely positive feedback we received from kilometer 1 onwards, which really put a smile on our faces! When you receive testimonials from enthusiasts thanking you because your products have revolutionized their sport by enabling them to rediscover the pleasure previously lost in digestive problems, you get up enthusiastically in the morning, even if it's very early! And when Xavier Thévenard wins the UTMB in 2018 on Baouw fuel, you jump for joy!'
The first packaging: 'Sportsmen and women need to be reassured, and in this context, visualization is essential: they start their tasting with their eyes!'
'“Originally, we wanted our packaging to anchor the brand in the outdoor world in the broadest sense, without limiting it to a single discipline. We wanted to talk about athletes and their activities, rather than recipes. That's why we ended up with a trail runner, a mountain biker, a snowboarder, a snowboarder and even a teenager skateboarding on our bars. But after a few months, we started getting calls from customers asking if the mountain bike bar was suitable for trail riding, and the surf bar for winter sports... Doubts we hadn't anticipated! In 2019, we therefore undertook an overhaul of our packaging, with the aim of highlighting the quality of the raw ingredients used in our recipes. After all, it's these ingredients that best reflect our promise of naturalness and nutritional quality! In the end, by trying too hard to break with codes, we came back to a more conventional option: it's not for nothing that all packaging looks the same. Sportsmen and women need to be reassured, and in this context, visualization is essential: they start tasting with their eyes!'
The first innovation: “We set out to break new ground by offering a product that had previously been virtually absent from the market: salted vegetable bars!
'Following the roll-out of our first 5 recipes, we set out to break new ground by offering a product that had been virtually absent from the market until then, despite recurring demand: savoury bars! To do this, we went to the finish line of the Maxi-Race, an emblematic trail around Lake Annecy, and questioned the runners one by one about the vegetables they were likely to like! From this field study emerged 4 recipes that were enormously popular until they stopped: Sweet Potato-Cashew-Curry, Carrot-Squash-Grain-White Pepper, Beetroot-Almond-Espelette Pepper and Quinoa-Pistachio-Lime. But it wasn't a total halt, as they gave way to a new range of even energy bigger and tastier bars!
The first value, which will forever remain the last: 'Ensuring that people can live healthy lives, through sport and healthy eating.'
'These 5 years have gone by so fast. It feels like April 2017 was yesterday! (...). At the outset, we didn't necessarily have the idea of going so far on our fundamental mission: to ensure that people can live and age in good health, thanks to sport and healthy eating. Of course, our products were healthy, delicious, practical and high-performance. But over the years, we've gone far beyond that, putting them back into the context of a global diet. By sharing our knowledge of everyday nutrition, our contribution has become all the more ambitious and inspiring. And Baouw products are a natural consequence.'
'The other thing that has always sustained us is the Baouw community. What kept us going in the early days was the power of the human adventure we were living around strong values like respect, sharing and commitment. That's what drives us every day! In a way, I'd like to thank all those who carry the brand and make it what it is today. My fabulous team, my co-founding partners and investors, our 40 athletes, our partners and our thousands of Baouwers! ” '
