Paul Azerbaijan restaurant

Today Paul has a network of over 40 bakery-patisseries across the world, supplying more than 5 million customers every month (in France) with plain and fancy bread, Viennese pastries, small cakes and desserts, as well as sandwiches made to order.Paul tearooms offer light “French style” meals. Sweet and savoury flans, pancakes, simple dishes and mixed salads are all prepared on site and make an ideal light lunch for our customers.Always prepared in the traditional way, Paul products are of the very best quality and it is these two timeless 'ingredients' that explain our success.

History of Paul

In 1889 Charlemagne Mayot ran a small bakery with his wife, Rue de la Mackellerie in Croix, near Lille. His son Edmond Mayot took over the family business in 1908.In 1935 Suzanne Mayot, daughter of Edmond Mayot and granddaughter of Charlemagne Mayot, married Julien Holder. They set up a bakery, Rue des Sarrazins in Lille. From 1953, their son Francis Holder (current Chairman of the company) began working with his parents who, by then, had taken over a famous bakery-patisserie belonging to the Paul family, Place de Strasbourg in Lille. The Paul name was retained.

n 1993 the new black fronted bakeries appeared - a new look for a new approach. It was at this time that Francis HOLDER went back to basics and developed his range of speciality breads. He had meetings with millers who couldn't immediately see what they had to gain from his ideas. “For my bread I wanted a hardy variety of soft winter wheat grown according to the principles of sustainable agriculture. Camp Rémy wheat yields 30% less than other cereals. We had to pay the difference to the growers and millers who joined our venture!” There are now over 300 French growers producing wheat for PAUL on more than 3,500 hectares and to very tight specifications.

Francis HOLDER, alongside his teams, makes daily checks on the quality of his products, their adherence to his recipes, the quality of service, the décor of his shops, etc. he has never lost sight of his original passion for baking bread and still works every week with the bakers who make his 'daily bread'.In 2005 even if he is not yet ready to retire, he has ensured that the next generation are ready to take over. “Today, more than ever, my sons and my daughter work with me to continue this extraordinary venture”.