The context: Installation of a water jet cutting machine for the chocolate and pastry industry
Based in Les Sables-d’Olonne since 2018, chocolate maker Vincent Vallée, crowned World Chocolate Master 2015, has quickly established himself as one of the leading names in French pastry. Initially focusing on chocolate, he has expanded his range to include high-end pastries, driven by the success of his now famous “Saturday cake.” The rapid growth of his business and the opening of a second store led to a significant increase in production, with several hundred individual creations produced every day during the summer season.
Faced with this growth, the chef had to find a way to industrialize his production without compromising the artisanal quality of his products, while preserving the consistency, precision, and creativity that have made his establishment so renowned. It was in this context that he discovered ChefCut® waterjet cutting technology, developed and manufactured in France by HYDROPROCESS.
The challenge: Cutting complex shapes in pastry and chocolate making
In pastry making and chocolate making, cutting out frames and complex shapes is a time-consuming, demanding task that is often subject to human error. Maintaining perfect aesthetic standards for 800 to 1,200 cakes per day requires a level of precision that is impossible to guarantee consistently by hand without increasing staff numbers and production costs.
Beyond productivity, the issue of working comfort in the laboratory was also important: repetitive manual cutting movements cause fatigue, loss of concentration, and risk of injury. The challenge for Vincent Vallée was therefore to streamline production while promoting creativity and craftsmanship by integrating a reliable, intuitive, and material-friendly technological solution.
Solution: installation of a water jet cutting machine
Impressed by the precision of ChefCut® waterjet cutting technology, which he saw at trade shows and was recommended by his peers, Vincent Vallée decided to equip his laboratory with a HYDROPROCESS waterjet cutting machine.
Manufactured in France, ChefCut® is distinguished by:
- A high-precision water jet cutting system, guaranteeing clean edges without altering textures or whitening the chocolate.
- ChefCut Office software, which is particularly intuitive and includes advanced cutting, editing, and assembly functions.
- Regular software updates developed by the HYDROPROCESS teams, providing new features and ever-improving ergonomics.
This combination allows chefs and their teams to design and cut custom shapes on pastries and chocolates, integrate text directly from the software without external vectorization, and reproduce each creation identically, with unmatched precision and consistency.
Results
The investment quickly proved profitable: ChefCut® now enables Maison Vallée to produce up to 1,200 individual cakes per day without the need for additional staff.
The machine has eliminated the most tedious tasks, while improving the quality of daily life in the workshop. The cuts are perfect and consistent, and the display maintains a consistent visual harmony regardless of the operator.
The visual quality is impeccable: there are no traces of whitening on the chocolate, even on thick 7 mm slabs cut in a matter of seconds.
And lastly, the proximity and responsiveness of HYDROPROCESS’ s after-sales service, provided directly by the company’s technicians, give the chef a lasting relationship of trust and support.
Testimony
“What made me choose HYDROPROCESS’ ChefCut® is that it is made in France, more precise in cutting stops, and above all, its software is truly incredible.
We saw a very quick return on investment: without the machine, we would have had to hire one or two more people during the season.
It also provides a real solution to the hard work involved: no more tedious manual cutting, and a display that is always consistent.
What I appreciate most is the proximity to the HYDROPROCESS teams: a human, responsive after-sales service and continuous software updates that save us precious time.
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Vincent Vallée, World Chocolate Master 2015
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