In 2014, French pastry chef Maxime Pouvreau founded Petit Pot with the dream of bringing a taste of France to American shelves. After moving to California, Pouvreau poured his passion for high-quality, simple ingredients into creating creamy, delicious desserts inspired by his homeland.
Editorial Intern / Progressive Dairy
Pouvreau describes Petit Pot as a “French indulgence.” The company uses few high-quality ingredients sourced from local suppliers. He says there is a creaminess you can taste and texture you can feel that sets Petit Pot apart.
“It is really about simple, clean ingredients, delicious texture and something that you can make at home,” Pouvreau says. “It is just like a little moment of happiness to enjoy in the middle of the day. It feels homemade with a little bit of a modern-style twist to it.”
With a background as a pastry chef in France, Pouvreau was inspired by the wide variety of desserts that filled French grocery store shelves. So, wanting to share that part of his culture, Pouvreau decided to bring a taste of France to the U.S.
“I had a desire to bring a little bit of the taste from home back to the U.S.,” Pouvreau says.
Similar to pudding, Petit Pot is an organic and creamy French dessert. Creating the company came with challenges, especially in the beginning when Pouvreau was working out of a small pastry kitchen.
“I needed to scale to something more industrial; that was a big challenge,” Pouvreau says. “That is what took some iterations and development to figure out.”
Dakota Reagan, Petit Pot operations planner, leads a tour of the Petit Pot production facility. Image courtesy of Petit Pot.
Pouvreau’s dedication recently led Petit Pot to win the grand prize in the Real California Milk Excelerator – an achievement that celebrated the company’s continued growth and success. Pouvreau was very proud to receive and accept the award on behalf of his company and team, seeing it as a recognition of their hard work. “It was such an honor, it is very incredible,” Pouvreau says. “We were super proud. It was not only a recognition on the product but really our team as well and all the work they have put into it, all the values and hard work. We were super excited, it was awesome.”
Petit Pot earned the top prize after competing against three other finalists, following a year of standout sales performance. The company first joined the 2023 Real California Milk Excelerator as a finalist, participating in a months-long, intensive virtual accelerator designed for innovative brands developing dairy-based products using California dairy.
To apply for the award, Pouvreau submitted a detailed application that included product information and his business plan. He also had to ensure Petit Pot met all the eligibility requirements – one of the most important being that the products were made with California milk.
“We work with a company called Clover Sonoma that makes dairy products locally,” Pouvreau says. “That was the highest, most important piece to be eligible.”
The competition provided valuable mentorship opportunities for Pouvreau and allowed him to build meaningful connections with other brands and industry professionals – an experience he deeply values.
“We really learned a lot from the mentorship, it was amazing,” Pouvreau says. “The networking that happens through the competition, meeting the mentors and meeting the other brands as well was really valuable.”
After this big win, Petit Pot is eager to continue building their brand. They aim to reach as many people as possible with their products. To support this goal, Pouvreau decided to invest part of the grand prize money into digital marketing and product demonstrations. By allocating a significant portion of the prize toward marketing, Petit Pot is working to expand its customer base and increase brand awareness.
“It is really to be able to make it show the appeal and have a broader portray,” Pouvreau says. “Trying to push it to more people and try to reach a bigger audience.”
Customers can find Petit Pot products nationwide in natural grocery stores. The company’s products are manufactured in Emeryville, California, just outside of Oakland in the Bay Area.
“You can find us at Whole Foods, all the natural grocery stores, and you can find us in some Targets,” Pouvreau says. “We are in Publix and Costco as well.”
Although they are nationwide, they still have room to grow to sell more products. Petit Pot’s goal is to grow into more conventional stores rather than just premium grocery stores.
“We are definitely trying to expand to beyond the natural channel,” Pouvreau says.
Petit Pot sells many flavors, but the three main flavors are chocolate, rice pudding and vanilla. Plant-based flavors are offered as well such as oat milk, dark chocolate and a coconut rice pudding.
“It is always nice to see the product,” Pouvreau says. “It is really rewarding to see the product in the grocery store, seeing people really enjoying it and seeing the emotion that comes when they try it. I am definitely proud to have developed something that a lot of people can find across the whole country.”
Since starting the company in 2014 and moving to California, Pouvreau has faced a lot of challenges and achieved many accomplishments. In his eyes, it has all been worth it, and he has learned a lot over the years working with companies within the industry. Winning the Real California Milk Excelerator award has inspired Pouvreau with even more goals to pursue in the future.
Dining and Cooking