PROFILES

“I wanted to build my experience and bring back to the family business what I had learnt elsewhere.”

On Thursday 17 October 2019, Sandrine Fuchs-Wyler, Confiserie Florian’s managing director, received an Ordre National du Mérite Agricole knighthood. She and her brother, Frédéric Fuchs, are the fourth generation to run the famous Riviera confectionary started by their great-grandfather in 1921. For a century the family has kept tradition alive, taking it forward over the decades.
The Fuchs great-grandchildren’s respective contributions to the family business are different but complementary. Frédéric joined the firm straight from university, whereas Sandrine began her career abroad then in the Fragonard perfumeries also started by their great-grandfather. The two companies became independent in 1996. “I wanted to build my experience and bring back to the family business what I had learnt elsewhere, in particular during my years in London and New York. I’m the first woman in the family to work at Florian, so I couldn’t afford mistakes.”
As well as chocolate and crystallised fruits, Confiserie Florian uses fresh flowers – roses, violets, jasmine, verbena – to make unique confectionery, and for the last century visitors have been able to watch these original creations being made. Sandrine Fuchs-Wyler’s idea was to retain what had earned the reputation of the brand bequeathed by her forebears but to modernise and develop it, notably by opening new shops and retail outlets. «When my father learnt I was going to receive a knighthood he was very proud, but my children were undoubtedly more so. As a mother I had to make many sacrifices to get where I am, so it’s a magnificent reward.”
The upcoming generation will choose their own paths in life. “Obviously we’d like them to carry the business on but we’re not forcing anything on them. So far they have taken different paths, but the family business offers such a gamut of possibilities that they can always come back and enrich it with their own experience. Our role will be to pass our traditions on to them so they can adapt them for their era.”

Par Mickaël Mugnaini – Photo Jean-François Romero