At its May 6, 2021 monthly meeting, PSPA heard from Ariane Daguin, CEO of D’Artagnan, a national gourmet food purveyor. After starting  her company in 1985 selling game and foie gras (the first to do so in the U.S.), Daguin and  D’Artagnan have been at the forefront of the organic movement and has created countless opportunities for American farmers by sourcing European style products in America.

While making her products of duck, chicken, game, beef, lamb, etc., available to the restaurant community, her reputation and business thrived. Today, her products are not only served in 4-star restaurants but in grocery stores for home cooks to enjoy. After 35 years of success, Ariane continues to build cooperatives of small-scale farms to consistently provide the best quality.

Ariane spoke about how the D’Artagnan product line and the customer base has broadened over the years necessitating five distribution center across the US to maintain product freshness.  Product is rarely frozen.  The growing scarcity of small slaughterhouses that are more flexible than larger operation is a continual problem as is the ability to maintain a skilled workforce.  She spoke to the needs for farmer cooperatives to work together to build slaughter capacity to keep product fresh and where possible local.

Watch the virtual presentation below.