This work enabled her to acquire the experience, skills and part of the finances that were to play a decisive role in the foundation of the LU biscuit empire.

[1][3] They moved to Nantes[4] and had four children: Ernest (1851-1939), Auguste (1854), Pauline (1855-1894), and Louis (1858-1940) who later took over managing the company and invented the Petit Beurre after studying biscuit manufacturing in Britain.

[5] As early as 1846, Jean-Romain Lefèvre had offered English biscuits from Huntley & Palmers for sale alongside his own recipes, in his pâtisserie shop at 5 rue Boileau in Nantes.

It is vast (150 m2) with high ceilings, beautiful mouldings and chandeliers, and wood panelling on the walls, giving the whole space an upmarket and refined character.

Louis Lefèvre-Utile set up a first factory and later that year, the family business was awarded with a gold medal at the Nantes exhibition.