Three and a half months ago, I opened the doors of Terroir.
In that short time, a great many French artisan bottles and products have found their way to individuals, companies, institutions and events across the Netherlands.
I have been lucky enough to meet extraordinary producers and to talk with dozens of committed people. Among them Corentin Mounié and Gilles Suprin. Our conversations didn’t change how I see things. They simply reinforced a conviction I have carried for a long time: behind every product there are people, farming choices and a responsibility towards the living world.
And then there is the news: the fires ravaging France and other parts of the world, the droughts growing more severe, the farmers having to adapt to ever less predictable seasons… I am not discovering these realities today, but watching them unfold pushes me to go further with Terroir.
I no longer want only to select good products. I want to understand what happens before they reach a table. The soils, the farming practices, the biodiversity, the transport, the constraints the producers face, their convictions. I want to tell that whole chain. Because behind every bottle, every jar of mustard, every cider and every saucisson there is a land, a climate, a craft, families and choices whose impact reaches well beyond our plate.
Take a simple example: mustard. For years, close to 80% of the seed used by French industry came from Canada before being processed in France.¹ Thousands of kilometres, when our own country holds real skill in growing it.
I’m not writing this to lecture anyone. I write it because I believe that understanding better what we eat helps us make better choices for today and above all for tomorrow.
That is why Terroir is taking a more deliberate turn.
I will go on selecting artisan products I’m proud of, but I will also spend more time telling their story, understanding their practices and their impact on the planet, and giving the producers a voice. I am still learning. But if I can, at my scale, help put more meaning behind what we eat and drink, then Terroir will be far more than a fine grocery.
And I think this is only the beginning.
Martin.
¹ Source: Le Monde investigation into the mustard supply chain and the 2022 shortage.
🌎 TERROIR GOES BEYOND
