Cerf-Dellier

From Bakery Oven Builder to Reference Supplier – Cerf-Dellier and Nine Decades of Patisserie Expertise

What began in 1932 as a craft business making bakery ovens in the northern French town of Lens is today one of the best-known addresses for patisserie ingredients and tools in France. The story of Cerf-Dellier is a story of listening: every time a customer asked 'do you also have...?', that was the starting point for a range expansion. And the customers – bakers, patissiers, chocolatiers – asked a great deal.

1932 to 1974 – Four Generations, One Question

Auguste Dellier founded his company in 1932 with a clear focus: the construction of traditional brick-built bakery ovens. Two years later he purchased a yeast licence – a concession to distribute fresh yeast – and began supplying his customers with raw materials as well. In 1945, Auguste and his wife together opened a specialist boutique for bakers, patissiers and glacier makers. The range grew with the trust of the customers.

In 1955, their daughter Marie-Antoinette and her husband Albert Cerf took over the family business – and with that, the name Cerf-Dellier was born. In 1974, Marie-Antoinette opened the first cash and carry shop in Lens dedicated to bakery and patisserie products – a novelty in France at the time. After her early death, Albert Cerf took over the management, before his son Jean-François took the helm at the end of the 1980s. Jean-François Cerf, a passionate traveller, discovered the concept of cake design in the United States and brought this field to France as one of the first to do so. He launched American cake decorations and edible printing on the French market – establishing a product line that defines Cerf-Dellier to this day.

2011 to Today – A New Chapter Under Isabelle and Jérôme Sergent

In February 2011, Jérôme Sergent, with twenty years of experience in the food industry, officially acquired the company. His wife Isabelle, a trained interior architect and experienced manager, joined as marketing director. The couple took over a family business with history – and transformed it into a modern specialist distributor with an international orientation.

Under their leadership, they developed Cerf-Dellier from a historical wholesaler into a manufacturer-distributor with over 10,000 patisserie references. The proprietary brand Patisdecor makes professional products accessible to a broader audience. Sourcing lies at the heart of the quality strategy: a rich, international procurement network that makes exclusive and innovative products possible that are not available through conventional specialist trade. The company is now headquartered in Hénin-Beaumont and operates several retail locations, including the Toque & Création outlet in Lomme near Lille.

The Range – Ingredients and Auxiliaries for Professional Patisserie

Cerf-Dellier sees itself as a full-range supplier for patisserie practice: the offering covers ingredients, tools, packaging, decoration materials and auxiliaries. In the area of ingredients and auxiliaries – the core area of the range available at miniSchoggi – the depth of the specialist range is particularly evident.

Gelatine is one of the most widely used gelling agents in patisserie: for mousses, gelées, panna cotta, cake glazes and creams. The quality of the gelatine – bloom strength, dissolution behaviour, clarity of the gel – directly influences the texture of the finished product. Pectin, a plant-based gelling agent obtained from fruit skins, is indispensable for jams, fruit gels and nappage masses; different pectin types – NH pectin for reversible gels, yellow pectin for acidic fruits – enable different textures and applications. Binding agents such as agar-agar, carrageenan or modified starches complement the spectrum and allow a broad selection according to the requirements of the recipe and the dietary needs of the customer base.

Ready-made fillings and fruit inserts cover an area that has gained increasing importance in professional patisserie: high-quality, ready-to-use fruit and flavour preparations used as cake fillings, inserts for entremets or as a base for creams. Cocoa butter powder is used as a release agent during tempering, as an ingredient in chocolate and velvet spray applications, and as a raw material for cocoa butter colour mixes for airbrush and spray work in chocolaterie.

Product Range at a Glance

Gelatine · Pectin · Binding agents · Ready-made fillings · Cocoa butter powder · Patisserie ingredients & auxiliaries

Cerf-Dellier at miniSchoggi

miniSchoggi carries Cerf-Dellier because the range covers a category that works in the background of patisserie – and yet determines the success or failure of a recipe. Gelatine that sets clearly. Pectin that activates at the right temperature and pH. Fillings that hold what they promise when cut. Cocoa butter powder that melts evenly and pigments cleanly. These products are not peripheral – they are the technical foundation of what ends up on the plate.

The Cerf-Dellier range available at miniSchoggi grows continuously and encompasses ingredients and auxiliaries for various application areas of patisserie and confectionery. It is aimed at professionals seeking reliable raw materials, as well as home bakers who want to use professional quality in their own kitchen.

From a question came a passion. From a passion came Cerf-Dellier.