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Origin and history

The Confectionery Store Debauve and Gallais, located at 30 rue des Saints-Pères in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, was founded in 1800 by Sulpice Debauve, former pharmacist of Louis XVI. The latter invented flavoured chocolates, the "Pistoles", to soften the taste of Marie-Antoinette's medicines. In 1816 Debauve became the exclusive supplier of the royal family, and in 1819 obtained the title of supplier of the court of France under Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe.

In 1819, architects Percier and Fontaine, famous for their work under Napoleon I, designed the current shop, which was listed as historical monuments in 1984. Sulpice Debauve was associated in 1823 with his nephew, Jean-Baptiste Auguste Gallais, a pharmacist and innovator. In 1827 Galla published a Monograph of Cocoa and in 1829 invented a press to degrease cocoa, improving its transformation. He also developed "health chocolates" based on almond milk and vanilla, and in 1838 patented a milk dehydration process, lactoline.

After the death of Debauve (1836) and Gallais (1838), the company was taken over by Mr. Thery, then in 1857 by Nicolas-Eugène Hugon, who modernized the production with steam machines. His son, Gustave Hugon, obtained medals at the universal exhibitions of 1878 (silver), 1889 and 1900 (gold) for innovations such as "light chocolate". The chocolate factory remained in the Hugon family until the factory closed in 1966, while maintaining its original shop and traditional packaging.

Today, Debauve & Gallalais remains one of the few independent royal suppliers. Retrieved in 1989 by Paule Cuvelier, the company has become internationalized with shops in Asia, the United States and the Middle East. In 2010, she launched a tea business, abandoned for 125 years. The historic shop, with its period decor, remains a unique testimony of 19th-century French chocolate craft.

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