Welcome to all of you and thanks for joining us in such large numbers.
The organisation behind this conference is the EKIP endowment fund, with the support of the Association internationale du pain français. A big thanks to Patrice Mora who started the Fund in 2014 and to Dominique Denoël, its current chairman, as well as the members of the EKIP bureau, who ensure its continuity.
The endowment fund focuses on three areas in the artisan food sector.
- Humanitarian and social
by supporting a social integration bakery in Paris or building a wood-fired oven in Burkina Faso,
- Dissemination of technical knowledge
through events like this one, the fourth of a series, after Crispiness, Sourdough and Bread of the future.
- Cultural
with an exhibition around the French baguette.
The endowment fund is an organization that serves the general interest and works impartially for the whole bread sector, which is quite exceptional.
Why a conference on breads of the world? Bread is a powerful symbol for everything that brings people together. In French, the word « pain » has a common etymology with « copain », meaning a friend with whom one shares the bread.
You will find some form of bread on all continents, fermented or unfermented, but a staple of many diets.
Today, in Afghanistan, in Ukraine and elsewhere, men and - very often - women - are fighting to provide this essential food to populations.
In these troubled times, the breads of the world are a beautiful symbol of the universal dimension of humankind but also of its diversity because bread is eaten nearly everywhere, but it’s never the same bread.
I wish you all a day full of beautiful discoveries. Hubert Chiron, whom many of you know, will now present the programme.
Gérard Brochoire
Chairman of the EKIP endowment fund.
Président du Fonds de dotation EKIP
