Pastilles de Vichy, a traditional French lozenge
Pastilles de Vichy, a traditional French lozenge
Jean-Pierre-Joseph d’Arcey, a distinguished member of the Academies of Sciences and Medicine, is credited with discovering the digestive properties of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in the early 19th century.
However, it was the pharmacist Pierre Batillat who created the famous Pastille de Vichy in 1825. These original pastilles were oval-shaped, moulded and carefully hand-formed.
In 1856, François Bru, the visionary director of the thermal baths, undertook to improve their appearance and taste to make them more appealing to consumers. The Pastilles de Vichy, renowned for their mildness and minty flavour, thus adopted their characteristic octagonal shape.
These new lozenges captivated Empress Eugénie, as well as Napoleon III, who was taking the waters in Vichy to treat his gout and digestive problems. From then on, the small, white, octagonal Pastilles de Vichy enjoyed meteoric success!
For the next hundred years, they continued to be carefully handcrafted from a soft paste cut into biscuit pieces and then oven-dried. It wasn’t until 1954 that the traditional method gave way to the use of dry granules shaped in automated tablet presses, thus streamlining the manufacturing process.
In 1973, several pastille manufacturers merged to form the Société Nouvelle des Pastilles Vichy (SNPV), combining their efforts in the production of these iconic pastilles. The pursuit of innovation led to the launch of the first sugar-free Vichy Pastilles in 1990, under the name Vichy Forme, thus responding to growing consumer preferences.
In 2003, Cadbury Schweppes acquired SNPV, which was renamed Comptoir Européen de la Confiserie in 2004. Further restructuring followed, including the acquisition of Cadbury France by Kraft Foods in 2010, culminating in Kraft’s transformation into Mondelēz International in 2013. Despite these changes, the recipe and appearance of the Pastilles de Vichy have remained largely unchanged, thus preserving their distinctive qualities.
Pastilles de Vichy today
Despite their evolution, the Pastilles de Vichy retain their iconic octagonal shape and characteristic white colour, each weighing 2.5 grams.
While the classic mint flavour remains the most popular, they are now available in a wider range of flavours, such as lemon, orange, and anise. Pastilles de Vichy sold in supermarkets are often considered a more refined confection, with a lower mineral content than those sold in pharmacies, which are prized for their purported health benefits.
Today, Vichy pastilles are produced at approximately 1,500 tons per year. Although now owned by an American multinational confectionery company, they remain a French product. The ingredients used to make them are indeed French: Vichy water, sugar from the oldest sugar factory in France (the Sucrerie Bourbon – Bourbon Sugar Factory, founded in 1835 in Aulnat, near Clermont-Ferrand), and mint grown in Grasse, Provence. This blend of high-quality ingredients ensures that the Pastilles de Vichy always embody the very essence of French tradition and expertise.
Department of Allier
Coordinates: Lat 46.131859 – Long 3.425488
Photo via Wikimedia Creative Commons: Pastilles by Morn the Gorn CC BY-SA 3.0 – All other photos are courtesy of Jean Piludu et Roland
