22/08/2026

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French pastry choux-perstar o Newly crowned world’s best patissier stays true to artisan roots

T HE smell of warm bread hangs in the air at one of Benoit Castel’s patisseries in Paris, where the newly crowned world’s best pastry chef was hard at work testing new recipes. His fingers covered in cookie dough, the 54-year-old with salt-and-pepper hair had returned to his usual routine as an “artisan-retailer” after the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners (UIBC) named him World Confectioner of the Year last month. “I have a mission: To be the world champion every day in my shop for my customers,” he said, eyes twinkling. At the helm of several establishments in Paris, Castel has never strayed from his motto: “It’s all about the product.” Three years after fellow French pastry chef Nina Metayer was crowned champion, Castel received the UIBC award presented annually to a leading figure in the profession in recognition of their career and contribution to the trade on July 14 in Singapore. “Our work is no trivial matter, every day we make things that people put into their bodies,” said Castel, who hails from Brittany in western France. The pastry shop’s glass cases are arrayed with blueberry and raspberry tartlets, cherry clafoutis and vanilla flans but his best-seller is a chocolate choux pastry. “If we stopped making it, there’d be protests,” he said. Each of his pastries is decorated with a small, scalloped shortbread biscuit – a nod to his home region – whereas colouring or bits of gold or silver leaf are eschewed. Fruit and vegetables are delivered to the chef from his own vegetable gardens and orchards in Brittany. The grandson of farmers, he grew up watching his grandparents make their own butter. “My mother and my grandmother cook divinely well,” he said. From the age of seven, he wanted to become a chef and received his first recipe book. But it was watching a pastry chef spin a model of the The rise of appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drugs, demand for healthier foods and growing ingredient scrutiny are pushing manufacturers to reduce portion sizes, increase protein content in their recipes and clean up ingredients lists. US ice cream sales volumes fell 1.5% year-on-year through June 13, according to NielsenIQ, while Boston Consulting Group research shows GLP-1 users cut frozen treat consumption by at least 10%. Yet manufacturers see little sign that consumers are abandoning ice cream altogether. Instead, ice cream makers are betting that shoppers will continue to indulge, provided treats come with fewer calories, more protein and simpler ingredient lists. “We still want to indulge, but do it with a little bit of a halo of a wellness play,” said Lisa Vortsman, US chief marketing and innovation officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company.

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“(The pastry chef is) demanding, he has this slightly perfectionist side we’re very fond of. He’s there alongside his workers every day and loves to pass things on,” said Montbabut, who has been working with him for six years. When Castel set out on his own in 2012 after working with chef Helene Darroze, at the prestigious Hotel Costes and La Grande Epicerie de Paris, he discovered the art of breadmaking. As a novice, he created his famous “pain du coin”, made from a variety of flours, natural quince sourdough starter, honey and Salish salt from the US Pacific Northwest. This was followed by “the bread of yesterday and tomorrow”, made from the previous day’s unsold stock as part of an anti-waste initiative. Always in search of new inspiration, Castel also collaborates with artists to create Yule logs. “Because they’re not technically limited in their ideas, it pushes us to try new things,” he said. Alongside his daughter Margot, he is set to open a new venue in Paris in September – a cross between a cafe, a restaurant and a bakery-patisserie. “These days, I’m as much a cook, a gardener and a baker as I am a pastry chef. But above all else, I’m a pastry chef,” he said.

Castel, the newly crowned

world’s best pastry chef, works in his bakery. – PICS FROM AFP

A fruit tart pastry with raspberries.

famed Loire valley Chateau de Chambord out of sugar, while out for dinner three years later that set him firmly on the path of pastry-making. ‘Try new things’ “The funny thing with this profession is that it’s the product that dictates the recipe,” he said enthusiastically from his kitchen, which opens onto the shop and the dining room, a popular spot for brunch. Dressed in his white pastry chef’s jacket embroidered with his name, he works with Romain Montbabut, his head baker, with whom he regularly tests new recipes. With a finger, he tastes the freshly made sourdough, prepared with flour milled a few months earlier in the back room, reported AFP.

A view of various displayed pastries.

Wellness trend drives demand for healthier ice cream with lower calories Ferrero-owned Blue Bunny, for example, said demand has been strong for its 150-calorie Mini Swirls and it is reformulating recipes to remove ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colours and flavours. CarbSmart and Popsicle Sugar-Free are particularly popular with GLP-1 consumers, Vortsman said. ICE cream companies may be enjoying a summer sales boost from soaring temperatures, but behind the scenes they are preparing for a future where consumers want fewer reasons to feel guilty about treating themselves.

Vortsman said consumers were increasingly looking for products that combined indulgence with attributes such as higher protein, lower calories and more controlled portions. Magnum’s brands make up a 26% share of the US$2.2 billion (RM9 billion) US wellness and functional ice cream segment. Around 16 million Americans are taking GLP-1 medicines, according to Boston Consulting Group, with the number expected to climb significantly by the end of the decade. Food companies from Nestle to Conagra have been reformulating products as consumers seek more protein, fibre and nutritional benefits. The challenge for ice cream makers is preserving ice cream’s appeal as an indulgence while adapting to shoppers who increasingly weigh nutritional value alongside taste. Ferrero’s Halo Top brand, which aims to offer the same ice cream experience with half the calories of leading competitors, said it has delivered double-digit percentage

“We know that there are certain ingredients that they don’t want to see in their products as much anymore,”said Andrew Mondzelewski, senior director for brand marketing at Blue Bunny. The shift reflects a broader challenge facing the industry as changing eating habits reshape what consumers expect from indulgent foods. Redefining indulgence The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which owns brands including Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s, has accelerated its focus on wellness-oriented offerings, citing strong growth in frozen Greek yoghurt brand Yasso. Yasso has delivered average annual growth of around 20% over the past five years, while the group’s other brands such as Breyers

Twister ice creams line in the production chain at Unilever Wall’s ice cream factory in the UK. – REUTERSPIC

data super-premium products were the only segment to post volume growth. The wellness trend is not confined to US, raising questions about how ice cream brands stay relevant as eating habits evolve globally. Glacier, one of Europe’s largest private-label producers, said demand is growing for smaller portions, premium products and lower-calorie ice lollies that fit broader health and wellness goals. – Reuters showed

sales growth over the last two years, compared with around 2.5% for the wider market, according to Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm. Rather than shrink its serving size, Halo Top said in emailed comments that it prefers to pair “craveable flavours with a good source of protein and fewer calories than traditional ice cream”. Dollar sales in US ice cream market rose about 2.8% over the past year, according to Circana. But NielsenIQ