Our History

1924: in Saint-Mards-de-Blacarville in the Eure, Oscar Faict began producing potatoes. In the same year, Louis, his son, wass born.

1957: Louis Faict started working in Fresnay-le-Long, at the heart of Seine-Maritime, on the 72 hectare farm. He continued to develop potato production and work with Rouen wholesalers.

In the same year, Joël was born – the third generation farmer in the family.

1983: The potato market evolved with the increasingly significant presence of large retailers in French countries.

It is during this year that Joël approached our first retail customer near the family farm.

To improve working conditions and allow us to respond to client demands, we constructed a remote building which is able to stock and condition 300 tonnes of potatoes.

1984: Joël Faict became involved in GAEC (a farming partnership) with his father, Louis Faict.

This involvement allowed the cultivation of potatoes to evolve as well as their commercialisation with restaurants, wholesalers and supermarkets.

1987: Construction of a flat storage building which allowed us to store 3 varieties of potato under the same building, with a capacity for 1,000 tonnes.

1991: Louis Faict retired.

1992: Purchase of a washer to respond to the needs of our customers who were looking for washed potatoes at this time so as to avoid dust.

1995: Purchase of a Girsac packager, which allowed us to produce 2.5kg bags with two openings to allow customers to transport them more easily.

2001: Construction of a 1,000 tonne-capacity cold room with pallet storage.

This investment improved the storage of potatoes thanks to temperature control in the cold room (approximately 5 degrees).

Moreover, pallet storage (wooden boxes as shown in the photo to the left let us manage batches of potatoes more efficiently as well as being able to store different varieties under the same roof.

This means we could extend our range of products to offer potatoes that correspond to our customers’ expectations year-round.

2002: To monitor our batches of potatoes more efficiently and improve traceability, we became NF V 25-111 certified.

Under this regulation, we were committed to using the tools and methods to:

- reason with each intervention based on cultural needs,

- preserve the quality of the product and limit environmental risks.

2003: This year was a turning point for the farm.

- Creation of the Domaine des Cartoufles brand to promote our potatoes to our customers: Cartoufles was once the word used to mean “potato”.

- Changing of packaging, for a D-Pack bag with handle - more practical than the formerly used bag with openings, branded with our name and cooking tips.

- Construction of a second loose potato storage building in the cold room. This allowed us to improve the potato conservation conditions and offer a healthy product year-round.

Now all of our products are stored in a cold room.

- Change of soil preparation material to "sieve", specific preparation which allowed us to remove the stones and clods of earth for a soil bed that promotes the growth of undamaged potatoes.

- Purchase of metallic containers to deliver to our customers, allowing us to reduce our packaging consumption by 3 tonnes of cardboard each year.

 2006: Farm certification ISO 14001 from the Terr'Avenir association.

ISO 14001 is an environmental management certification that allowed us to go further for the environment by engaging in a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement.

Every year we reassess how we can further our commitment to the environment.

     We separate our waste (cardboard, plastics, oils, etc.) and they are then processed by organisations authorised for this type of work. For example, when there is an oil leak from a piece of equipment, we use an absorbent powder on the oil so it does not contaminate the environment.

      This powder is then recovered by a registered centre which will manage its disposal while respecting our surroundings.

2013: Arrival of Romain, 4^th generation, on the farm, allowing us to develop our commercial activity.

Certification from the Gourmandie label, assuring our consumers that potatoes branded with this logo have been produced in the Normandy region.

This label guarantees that our potatoes have been tried and tested by a panel of consumers who approve these varieties for their taste quality.

To improve our delivery conditions, we invested in refrigerated lorries that will not suffer from the weather conditions, particularly frost and temperatures greater than 20-25 degrees.