A double blow for Charles Huet, entrepreneur and long-time specialist in French companies producing in the region, who has just released in the middle of MIF Expo, “The Atlas of French Products”, published by Puits Fleuri. This illustrated book allows you to discover everyday non-food products (with the exception of candies and chocolates) made near us. The factories and workshops of more than 3,000 consumer brands are located on 120 sectoral, thematic and regional maps of France. “Mapping is magic, because it is both the best transparency tool for brands and education for customers,” assures the author. Five months before the presidential election, the work also includes some proposals to feed the candidates' programs, the question of made in France resting on issues of sovereignty, ecology and reindustrialization but also "territorial planning", he underlines. He thus returns to the geo-economic strategy of corridors developed by the entrepreneur and essayist Joan Larroumec, pleading for an interconnected economic axis linking Marseille to Le Havre.
Very committed to the promotion of local producers and the relocation of purchases by French consumers, Charles Huet has already published a first work, “The guide made in jobs” published in 2013, a version of which was available on a mobile application. Former technical manager of the Origine France Garantie (OFG) label, he also co-founded La Carte française, a gift card usable in 2,000 stores offering items made in France.
Key distribution
For the author, “Made in France, you have to want it, know it, be able to and find it. Wanting it requires raising awareness and promoting this subject, which has already been happening for several years. Knowledge comes from the certification of products, it is the work carried out by OFG, as well as their identification as allowed today by the Marques de France guide and application. If significant progress has been made on these two points, the other two remain. “Power obviously concerns purchasing power, which is a lot of talk at the moment. Finally, we still have to find where to buy these products and in this matter, distribution is key. Despite e-commerce, it can be important for the consumer to see them, touch them or try them,” points out Charles Huet. A reality that he experiences daily since he joined Émilie Auvray, the founder of L'Appartement Français.
After opening a first 80 m² boutique on rue du Bourg Tibourg in the Marais, in Paris, dedicated to French fashion, the young woman has installed a 200 m² pop-up boutique since November 1, 2025 and until spring 2027, offering in addition fashion articles, beauty products, for cooking or decoration. Located rue de la Verrerie in the 4th arrondissement, this second L'Appartement Français store faces the Bazar de l'Hôtel de ville (BHV), placed in receivership since November 2 and closed a few days later due to an insurance problem. Coincidentally, it opened its doors at the time of the arrival of Shein, the Chinese ultra-fast fashion platform, in the department store. “Every day, we had customers who were sorry about what the BHV was becoming and congratulated us for our initiative. With a year of experience, we see that our model works both for brands made in France in terms of margins and for customers who come to buy from us,” observes Charles Huet.
This is why, with Émilie Auvray, he is leading a project to take over the activity of part of the BHV to deploy the Made in France and responsible consumption department store. Ten years ago, the entrepreneur had already worked with a commercial property company on a concept for a department store dedicated to made in France, but this was unsuccessful. “The BHV is the missing link in this idea which has not left me and The Atlas of French Products is also part of this ambition. I have referenced 3,000 brands in this book and we are currently planning on taking over the 11,000 m² BHV to position 900 brands there, 90% of which represent French know-how with products such as La Rochère glasses or Moutet kitchen linen, as well as 5% Made in Europe and 5% second hand,” explains the entrepreneur. To present an offer, the latter is seeking with Émilie Auvray to raise 15 million euros by November 27, the date of the end of the submission of offers to the commercial court.
