PRODUCTS TURNING INNOVATION INTO PLEASURE
Led by the Agence de l’Alimentation Nouvelle-Aquitaine (AANA), the region’s food agency, and CRITT Agro-Alimentaire, its agri-food innovation and technology transfer centre, SO INNOVATION spotlights inventive products from Nouvelle-Aquitaine across three major professional events, including SIAL Paris. Held every two years, the initiative opened its 2026 edition recently at JAS La Rochelle. Among the selected products, the SO PLEASURE category captures the current mood particularly well: comfort remains powerful, but it now comes with stronger regional identity, sharper formats and a more playful relationship with indulgence.
Regional classics, new cues
Ceci n’est pas un vin from Cidrerie HIC signals how traditional categories are loosening their borders. Based in Sadirac, Gironde, Cidrerie HIC produces organic ciders, juices, cider vinegar, fruit purées and apple jellies through natural fermentation and a circular economy approach. The name borrows from wine culture while pointing back to the apple, at a moment when French cider is increasingly being treated as a drink for tasting rather than simply drinking. Le Monde reported in 2024 that the global cider market had been growing by around 6% a year since 2019, driven partly by more gastronomic, lower-alcohol and naturally made profiles.
One of the other products highlighted by SO INNOVATION is Maison Delpeyrat’s limited edition dried or smoked duck breast, which plays a more classic but equally strategic card: indulgence rooted in the South-West. Maison Delpeyrat’s dried and smoked duck breasts come from ducks born in France, raised and prepared in the South-West, and made without nitrite salt. For a fresh meat exhibitor, this speaks directly to premium aperitif culture, grazing boards and ready-to-serve regional gastronomy.
Snackable pleasure gets sharper
The potato waffles from Atelier Itsalga bring the selection into hybrid territory. The brand presents them as suitable for brunch, aperitif or quick lunch, with serving ideas such as an avocado toast-style waffle topped with smoked trout, lemon, Espelette pepper and herbs . The interest lies less in novelty for its own sake than in the way Atelier Itsalga reworks a familiar ingredient into a flexible, ready-to-dress base. Potato becomes a crisp, savoury carrier for toppings, sauces and regional pairings, moving easily from casual snacking to a more composed plate. In that sense, the waffle format gives a humble staple a more contemporary role: practical, customisable and still openly pleasurable.
La Compagnie de Bouteville’s Le Piment brings a sharper register to the selection: a chilli-infused wine vinegar made for finishing rather than overpowering. It adds heat, acidity and aromatic depth to grilled foods, roasted vegetables, salads or vegetarian dishes, turning spice into a precise seasoning gesture rather than a hot-sauce effect. Rooted in Bouteville’s work around gastronomic vinegars and condiments, it draws on Charente know-how, where vinegar culture meets the region’s relationship with Cognac barrels and Ugni Blanc grapes. The pleasure here is not heat for spectacle, but heat as a final note.
Chocolate, pistachio and visual appetite
In the sweet register, Bovetti’s Pop Art squares bring colour into chocolate. The range turns organic white chocolate into small, graphic tablets built around bright flavours such as pistachio, lemon, raspberry and blackcurrant, giving the category a more playful visual language. The pistachio square is especially striking, combining white chocolate with pistachio pieces and a naturally intense colour obtained using spinach powder. The effect is indulgent, but also highly recognisable: a chocolate format designed to catch the eye before it reaches the palate. For the food sector, the format speaks to a confectionery market where pleasure begins before the first bite. Colour, shape and instant recognition have become part of the appetite, not just decoration around it.
Cacolac’s Dubaï Style brings the viral pistachio-chocolate moment into a Bordeaux-born milk drink. The product plays on the Dubai chocolate phenomenon, with its pistachio-led flavour profile and highly visual codes, but translates it into Cacolac’s familiar 25cl can format. That makes the trend feel less like a luxury confectionery reference and more like an accessible impulse drink: cocoa, milk and pistachio, packaged for shelves, fridges and on-the-go consumption. It is a smart example of how quickly social-media appetite can move into mainstream grocery when the format is simple enough to understand at first glance.
Indulgence with a regional accent
Aquitaine Spécialités’ salted butter caramel cannelé closes the circle by returning to Bordeaux. The cannelé is one of the region’s emblematic pastries, known for its caramelised crust and soft centre flavoured traditionally with rum and vanilla. The SO INNOVATION selection adds salted butter caramel, turning a heritage pastry into a more contemporary impulse treat.
Together, the SO PLEASURE innovations suggest that indulgence is not a minor category. It is where regional brands test humour, texture, portability, spice, visual culture and cross-category inspiration. These products will be showcased among other regional specialties and innovations at SIAL Paris on the Agence de l’Alimentation Nouvelle-Aquitaine stand from 17 to 21 October 2026, extending their visibility from a regional innovation platform to an international food industry trade show audience. For SIAL Paris, they offer a concentrated taste of Nouvelle-Aquitaine’s current creative energy: rooted, generous, precise and ready for the next conversation.
Crédits images:
Maison Delpeyrat
Compagnie de Bouteville