[1] The son of a signalman, Bernachon started an apprenticeship as pâtissier in Pont-de-Beauvoisin at 12 years of age.
[1][2] In 1975 he created the Président, a cake creation to celebrate the admission to the French League of Honor of Paul Bocuse by then-president of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing – a cake that made him famous.
[3] He was one of the few French chocolatiers who would entirely manufacture their own chocolate from raw cocoa, imported variously from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Equatorial Guinea.
[1][4][5] He retired in 1997, leaving the management of his chocolate business to his son Jean-Jacques (1944–2010), husband to Françoise, the daughter of Paul Bocuse.
[1] The business is currently run by Philippe and Stéphanie Bernachon, the children of Françoise and Jean-Jacques.