[Made in Luxembourg] Seabiscuit, natural and supportive cookies

Made with a maximum of local products, the Seabiscuits are made in the protected workshop of Yolande Coop in Mondorf. A social dimension that makes its creator, Thierry Li, proud.

The other episodes of “Made in Luxembourg”

▪ A chocolate Christmas with Genaveh

▪ The good cheeses of a young farmer

▪ The verjuice comes out of grimoires

▪ Glühgin, the best antidote of the moment!

▪ Organic and natural mustards

▪ Ortea, the nettle iced tea

▪ Guy Kirsch’s Bone Coast

▪ La Gëlle Fra reincarnated in whiskey

▪ Jean-Claude Muller and the return of sauerkraut

▪ Schilz, the elegant soft with good taste

▪ Button mushrooms by Jeff Diderrich

The product

Seabiscuit are Luxembourg biscuits… so they have nothing to do with the sea! “I chose this name because Seabiscuit was a legendary racehorse of the 1930s. He was small, ridden by a one-eyed jockey and coached by an outcast trainer. He should never have won, but he won ahead of the big favorite in the Kentucky Derby, the most watched sporting event of the time. I thought it was an ideal name, especially since the horse is my Chinese zodiac sign, the country where I come from.

These small biscuits are designed with a maximum of local products. The flour comes from the country, the eggs are supplied by Bio-Ovo (a community of Luxembourg organic producers), the butter is from the historic brand Rose (manufactured by Luxlait)… everything that can be local is. “We are lucky in Luxembourg, since these ingredients are top quality,” says Thierry Li.

The base of all eight cookie varieties (Plain, Cinnamon, Caramelized Hazelnut, Coconut, Chocolate Chip, All Chocolate, Lemon Zest, Orange Zest/Chocolate Chip) is the same, only the additional ingredients make the difference. And there too, all are first choice: “For example, the zests are real zests, not dehydrated zests.”

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The recipe was developed by Thierry Li himself. “I was inspired by existing recipes that I adapted to my taste,” he explains. These are not dry biscuits, they are soft and melt in your mouth!” They are as natural as possible, do not contain preservatives, hydrogenated fats, coloring or flavorings. The amount of sugar is reasonable, no more than 10% of the dough.

The other originality of these products is their place of manufacture. “When I launched the brand, I lived in Wiltz and I naturally approached Cooperations, which had sheltered workshops. At the start, I hadn’t thought of giving a social dimension to the project, but I’m very happy to have done so,” says Thierry Li. the producer turned to Yolande Coop and its sheltered workshop in Mondorf-les-Bains. This cooperative society, which is part of the Elisabeth network, makes it possible to produce larger quantities… although it still sometimes happens that certain biscuits are out of stock.

The producer

Thierry Li has long been a consultant in the food industry, but entrepreneurship has always attracted him. “At first, I thought of making mustard, but my wife convinced me to market the biscuits that I was already making at home.” He launched the project in 2010 and the first sales were made in 2011.

His initiative was quickly validated by his success during the first 1, 2, 3 Go Social course in 2012, where he was chosen by ING. “It was important to me,” he recalls. If a bank gave me this price, it was because it validated my business model and I was right to start.”

Now that his project is well established in the Grand Duchy (even if he would still like to increase production to be more present on the national market), he is thinking of duplicating it abroad. “I’m considering creating other small structures to use local ingredients for local markets. Growing in Luxembourg with the idea of ​​exporting production would be against nature.”

Where to find them?

Initially, Thierry Li scoured the markets to sell his cookies. “It was interesting to be in contact with customers, but it was not the ideal distribution vector… In a market, we depend a lot on the season and the weather.” His stroke of luck was to attend a farmers market near the Pall Center. “Christine Wickler (Editor’s note: the manager) tasted them and, finding them very good, offered to reference them. Back then it was really early days, I didn’t even have barcodes on the labels! But we should not miss this opportunity and I started.

Seabiscuit are now distributed by La Provençale and available in many supermarkets in the country. Besides the Pall Center, we find them at the Cora Concorde, in some matches, the Alima… and also in the smaller shops: Eis Epicerie (Soleuvre), Berdorfer Eck (Berdorf), Auberge Fussekaul (Esch-sur-Sûre), Biohaff Clees (Steinsel), Babbocafé (Esch-sur-Alzette) and even on caddy.lu…

Seabiscuits are available in 120 g sachets, but also in 1 kg buckets (only plain, chocolate and hazelnut), which are especially popular in cafes and restaurants.

To remember

· The Seabiscuit were created by Thierry Li. The eight varieties are produced with as many local ingredients as possible (flour, eggs, butter) and only high quality products.

· They are produced in the protected workshops of Yolande Coop (Elisabeth network), in Mondorf-les-Bains. To avoid exporting them, Thierry Li plans to manufacture them in other small structures abroad.

· 120 g sachets can be found in several supermarkets in the country (Pall Center, Cora Concorde, several Matches, Alima, etc.) and in small shops. Some cafes and restaurants also serve them.