The two houses have joined hands for the Cooking Talent competition, which awards amateur cooks.
“This partnership is the fruit of the commitment of three families.” Thomas Bourgeois, Marketing and Communication Director for France, summarises upfront the relationship between the premium German brand of household appliances and the Maison Taittinger with regard to Cooking Talent, the yearly amateur cooking competition in Paris , and that will take place on 27 November 2023. “Miele has always been run by the same two founding families; today he fourth generation is at the company helm. That is unquestionably the bond with the Maison Taittinger and the family that heads it,” explains Thomas Bourgeois. Carl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann first started their business 125 years ago, providing farms with butter churns in the Dusseldorf region in Germany.
From the very beginning of the adventure, Miele has stood out in its market for its remarkable attention to product quality. Miele produced and distributed its very first hoover in 1927 and its first dishwasher in 1929, before expanding its activities throughout Europe and beyond in the 1960s. “In the electrical goods field, we are what is known as a premium generalist,” Thomas Bourgeois declares. “We offer a large variety of products, always striving for excellence.” Miele also provides an integrated after-sales service with some hundred technicians in France alone.
“This collaboration represents both an opportunity and an occasion to share common values,” continues Thomas Bourgeois, whose company has already worked with leading brands in the culinary arts. “We organise the cooking sessions at our Experience Center de Rive Gauche à Paris,” the German brand’s Marketing Director announces. Two other stores exist in France: at Paris Rive Droite and at the Cap 3000 shopping centre in Nice.”
Miele also conducts several one-off collaborations such as Elle Green, a festival sponsored with the women’s lifestyle magazine. “Consumers of our products are looking for excellence in their products,” claims Thomas Bourgeois. “And that is also something we have in common with Taittinger. We don’t have bespoke product ranges, we prefer to showcase the brand and its know-how.” Bottles of Taittinger champagne are showcased in exclusivity in Miele stores around the world. As of today, there are more than 100 stores worldwide.
The complicity between the two houses is clearly demonstrated in the Cooking Talent held every year at the Miele Experience Center Rive Gauche, which awards, as Jean-Pierre Redont, Secretary-General of the Taittinger Prize and Cooking Talent, puts it: “exacting aficionados”. “With Cooking Talent, we wanted to pay tribute to aficionados and recognise those amateurs who throw themselves wholeheartedly into their love of cooking,” he continues. “These aficionados demand a lot of themselves and, in this way, they share the values of both Miele and Taittinger.”
This year chef Amandine Chaignot has proposed that the three finalists prepare skate wing during the final round on 27 November. They will have three hours to prove their creativity on the proposed theme. “I love meeting them, shepherding them. They are have very different profiles,” notes Jean-Pierre Redont. “This year, Cooking Talent will welcome actress Armelle as honorary jury member, following Pierre Arditi and François-Xavier Demaison. Each time we choose an artist as much for their empathy with the candidates as for their personal enthusiasm for cooking. The Cooking Talent winner will then be invited to the international finale. That will be an opportunity for them to rub shoulders with leading chefs and magnify their passion for cooking.”
Together the two partners hope to develop this competition in other European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.). And, why not, throughout the world.
