Producers of Pacific oysters and mussels from Mont St-Michel Bay.
FAMILLE BEAULIEU, since 1956
The Beaulieu family adventure began in 1956 in Mont Saint-Michel Bay thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of a woman, Marie-Josephe Beaulieu, and her son Charles. Initially focused on the production of mussels, their production activity expanded to include Pacific oysters in Cancale Bay. These activities gave rise to La Vivaraise in 1985, inspired by the name of the men and women of Vivier sur Mer where the company is located, halfway between Cancale and Mont Saint-Michel.
The Cancale Pacific Oyster
The history of the Crassostrea gigas
Historically, it is the flat oyster – Ostrea edulis – which is endemic to the waters in Mont Saint-Michel Bay, and the “Belons de Cancale” were held in high regard throughout Europe.
During the 20th century, several epizootics – or epidemics – decimated the flat oyster populations and led to their virtual disappearance in the 1970s.
Salvation came in the form of the Pacific oyster, the famous Crassostrea gigas, which we now find on our plates. Introduced in the mid-1960s by a few French oyster farmers, large quantities of mother oysters were imported due to its resistance. Their larvae spread widely and it became the main species on our coasts from the 1970s.
When you taste our Cancale Oysters, you will appreciate all the work carried out day after day by our teams in order to obtain beautiful, deeply iodised oysters, the signature of the Cancale oyster, recognised in 2019 as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO!
From the Fine to the Special, this is a rare and sought-after product.
Expertise
La Vivaraise raises and grows its oysters in the exceptional environment of Mont Saint Michel Bay. This allows our oysters develop a very authentic taste in a production area where water quality is particularly well preserved.
It all starts with our juvenile oysters (Spats and Pre-fattened Oysters) which are placed in bags on raised oyster tables on the foreshore.
The tides in the bay are among the biggest in Europe, which generates a significant mixing of the waters: in these conditions, La Vivaraise oysters benefit from perfect oxygenation and quality plankton that promotes to their growth.
The experience and know-how of the oyster producers really comes into play at here: the bags are turned over regularly to help the oyster’s shell harden.
The oysters are moved to the different areas of La Vivaraise parks, controlled, sorted and placed step by step in bags adapted to their needs, allowing them to grow perfectly!
Products
The fine Cancale oyster is a delicate oyster known for its salty flavour, ideal for an aperitif or a light meal.
The special oyster is more fleshy, which gives it a more pronounced texture and flavour and makes it a truly exceptional product for your meals and various festive occasions.
In recognition of our work, our Cancale oysters were awarded a silver medal at the Concours Général Agricole de Paris 2022.
Whether considered by our quality department as Fine or Special based on its meat content, our Pacific oysters are graded and then sorted by hand before being packaged in bulk or in a basket.
La Vivaraise offers oysters of all sizes in different ranges.
The smaller the number of the oyster, the larger the size.
Calibration of Pacific oysters:
Size 1: from 120 to 150 grams
Size 2: from 85 to 120 grams
Size 3: 65 and 85 grams
Size 4: from 45 to 65 grams
Size 5: less than 45 grams
The Bouchot mussel
The Bouchot mussel ans its history
The Bouchot mussel is the emblem of Mont Saint-Michel Bay. It can be found on the market from July to February and enjoys pride of place at any meal thanks to its unctuous flesh and slightly sweet taste.
Its history dates back to the mid-1950s when intrepid men and women began cultivating mussels in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel. Families from Charente and Vendée travelled to Brittany to share their know-how and lend the Bretons a hand.
In a few years, after much effort, the Bay was covered with “bouchots” where the mussel flourished and developed unique flavours, recognised today by a Protected Designation of Origin label linked to an exceptional terroir.
Bouchot mussels from Mont-Saint-Michel Bay are the first seafood products to have obtained this label. We are very proud of this because we have actively participated in the process that has led to this wonderful recognition of the joint work of nature and our teams who take care of our mussels every day.
Legend has it that the word “bouchot” may come from the Irish word “bout choat” which refers to the ingenious idea of a castaway named Patrick Walton who had the idea of setting nets on the shore between wooden stakes driven into the ground to catch seabirds. He soon realised that the wooden poles were covered with small mussels.
The term “bouchot” comes from the production technique of growing mussels on coconut ropes wound on regularly spaced stakes.
Expertise
Historically, we have collected our mussel spat on coconut ropes laid on family sites in Oleron, a natural and ideal support for the fixation of larvae. The ropes are then transported to Mont-Saint-Michel Bay for pre-growing and then rearing Bouchot mussels, the historic core business of Famille Beaulieu.
Bouchot mussel farming uses a production method where the seeded ropes are rolled up, fixed and cared for by our mussel teams throughout the growth cycle of our mussels which lasts from 12 to 18 months.
Our bouchots are located in the foreshore (the tidal zone) of Mont-Saint-Michel Bay and nature covers and reveals our mussels at its own pace, that of the tides! The fact that our mussels are raised in a bay with the biggest tidal range in Europe means that they are of superior quality, not only in terms of taste but also in terms of resistance and vitality.
Products
Bouchot mussels are known worldwide for their very smooth and silky flesh texture due to the fact that the shell remains very tightly closed during the different stages of production. They are recognisable by their yellow-orange colour when the flesh is cooked.
Bouchot mussels are pure and clean because they are not in contact with the ground, they are of a good size thanks to the abundant food they absorb throughout their rearing cycle and the rhythm of the tides helps ensure that their shells are hard.
Labels
There are different grades of mussels and we aim to produce the best quality.
We can therefore offer mussels with different labels:
STG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) which provides a guarantee of the working and breeding technique
Label Rouge is the optimum level of selection based on a higher size and greater meat content. It is the best of the best in terms of quality.
AOP Baie du Mont Saint-Michel which provides a further guarantee of the origin of our mussels, the size and the selected meat content.
The flat oyster of Cancale
Find them on the La Belon de Cancale website.
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