The history of vinegar in France, Orléans in particular, has played a large role in the history of vinegar. The artisan vinegar makers of Orléans waxed large in the ancién regime but later began to fade as both free market liberalization and industrialization took their toll. However, amongst these would emerge several companies that not only survived the changing times but thrived in them. Chief amongst these concerns was the family run company Dessaux Fils.
Dessaux Fils dates from the first days of France after the Revolution’s edicts removed the privileges of the old corporations. Once accomplished, vinaigriers (vinegar makers) were no longer limited to approved masters and their apprentices. In this environment, many vinaigreries (vinegar breweries) disappeared but new ones took their place. One such firm, Greffier-Hazon was founded in 1789. The firm was prosperous and located in the center of town near the sugar refineries.
Sometime in the early 19th century a young Charles-Prosper-Alexandre Dessaux went to work for the vinegar maker. Dessaux worked for Greffier-Hazon for some years, but left start his own firm in 1824 when he was thirty four years old. While independence was surely a motive, the full motives are unclear and though this date corresponded with the invention of the new quick process, it is unlikely he had heard of it that early.
This would obviously have seemed a threat to his old employer, however, instead of competing, the two firms joined together. Charles-Prosper’s son Charles-Laurent Dessaux wed the daughter of the owner of Greffier-Hazon, Marie-Therese Aimee Greffier-Vandais. Both children were in their teens at the time. The combined company, Vinaigrerie Dessaux-Greffier, did well and became a major force in the city. Unfortunately, the next generation was not as inspired as Charles-Prosper likely hoped.
After his retirement, Charles-Prosper’s two sons, Charles and Jules took over the business. They renamed it Vinaigrerie Dessaux Fils (Brothers Dessaux). The two got along quite poorly, especially regarding political issues. Jules was a staunch republican while Charles-Laurent was a bonapartist and enthusiastic supporter of Napoleon III. The friction between the two led Jules to leave and start a rival firm in 1851. After his departure, Charles-Laurent nearly ruined the business caring to spend money more than to make it.
After sixteen years of mismanagement, with the firm at the brink, Charles-Laurent brought his first son Paul into the business. Unfortunately Paul passed prematurely and the business passed to his younger brother Ludovic. A common aphorism is that talent skips a generation and this was true in the case of Ludovic. Taking the reigns at only twenty-four years of age, his passion and understanding of the business as well as his astute observation of the trends in the market would not only save Dessaux Fils, as the business became known, but would help it become the dominant vinegar firm in France and one of the largest and most respected in the world.
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