It all begins in the hills above Lausanne, in la Ferme de Rovéréaz.

For the past nine years, Gilles Berger has been farming the 34 hectares entrusted to him by the town using organic methods, growing market garden produce, tending an orchard of nearly 6,000 trees and selling his produce through short supply chains. It is on this land that ‘Vanilnoir’, a variety of purple wheat developed in Switzerland, is grown.

Since late 2023, Gilles Berger has also been operating a stone mill on the estate. There, he grinds his grain into homemade flour. In keeping with the spirit of the local supply chain, this flour travels barely two kilometres to the Sallaz neighbourhood, where it reaches Christophe Ackermann’s bakery.

A third-generation artisan baker, Christophe Ackermann has been carrying on the tradition of a multi-award-winning bakery since 1960. These include the Pain d’Or Vaudois and, more recently, the Couronne Boulangère 2025. At the Sallaz bakery, the dough ferments for between 16 and 18 hours using a homemade rye sourdough starter, before being weighed, shaped in proofing baskets and then baked using traditional baking methods.

A loaf made from:

• Vanilnoir wheat flour from Lausanne
• Water from Lausanne
• Alpine salt (Saline de Bex)