The Perronneau family
The Perronneau family is one of the oldest families of beekeepers in France. The genesis of this 5-generation saga begins in Auxois in 1890 where the Pechinot family, traveling distillers part of the year, practiced a side activity of passion: beekeeping.
It was the latter that finally won out, and he launched the family's beekeeping business with around a hundred hives.
Their daughter and son-in-law, Gabriel Perronneau, took over the business 30 years later and expanded the livestock to nearly 1,000 hives.
In the 1950s, just after the war, the torch was passed to Gabriel Perronneau and his wife Madeleine, who tripled the herd and placed themselves at the top of French honey production. They set up so-called pastoral beekeeping, which consists of transhumancing the bees. They therefore crisscrossed France in search of the best terroirs to diversify the varieties of honey that their bees produced. At the same time, they perpetuated the Dijon tradition of making gingerbread and nonnettes to expand their offering.
In 1994, with their 7 children, they founded the company APIDIS and began to launch, in addition to their honey production activity, a honey trading activity and to develop derivative products: jam, confectionery, vinegars, mustard but always based on honey from the regions. At the same time, he developed a unique, innovative and product-friendly process, allowing to obtain a honey with a creamy texture.
APIDIS is today chaired by Pascal Perronneau, whose sisters Marie-Agnès Perronneau and Marie-Françoise Perronneau are still active in the company while being shareholders.
The 5th generation arrives , including Thomas Decombard Perronneau, current Managing Director, trained alongside his grandfather Gabriel. He focuses on the internal organization of APIDIS, the honey house and beekeeping practices using new technologies made available to him and makes all the Perronneau Family honeys known beyond borders by ensuring their presence in more than 39 countries.
For the 5th generation , Gabriel-Mathieu Perronneau has also joined the family business, he is in charge of marketing honey and honey products in garden centers, organic stores and delicatessens.
A passion and know-how that is passed down from generation to generation, as part of an approach to preserving biodiversity. From this point of view, it is an exciting profession for the family; it is also the transmission of a culture and know-how: spending time with bees, in nature, discovering the range of professions that make up the beekeeper's profession. In this family, the passion for the profession is passed down through the family.
