The French brand has launched its first collection of nested bottles. With their elegant aesthetics and refined design, Le Biberon Français is expecting to impose itself upon childcare's world. Their dad, Benjamin Banoun, answered our questions.

Tell us a bit about you...

I'm a hearing care professional with an acoustic engineering degree. In 2003, I sold my company to a large global group for which I have been working for 13 years . I was a senior executive there. This global group has financed my executive MBA in 2013 ; it has awakened the desire to undertake something ( this was kind of a middle-life crisis at 41). Through the past years, I have developed many patents, and one of them had a better growth potential : nesting baby bottles.

What brought you to the baby bottles' market ?

4 years ago, during a trip to Italy with my family (i have two boys aged 5 and 11), we had to carry 5 baby bottles in a special bag for our little boy. It took a lot of space for nothing but air . The night after, I was drawing nesting baby bottles. Once the patent registered, I have gone to meet major brands, asking them to develop my product. I have had a lot of positive feedbacks on the concept but they told me to get back to them when the product is ready. Then I asked myself : If I want to develop a product, why shouldn't I create my own brand ?
In a highly competitive market with major brands of long-term reputation, and more specifically, in the childcare world, I had to be different and flawless. Above all, I wanted to create something that I could use for my own children. Safe, efficient, practical and beautiful .

The "made in France" is very trendy. Why did you choose it ?

It was an evidence to me. When I started to think about production, I quickly realised that asian production is definitely cheaper than the french one, but quality, traceability and feasibility weren't guaranteed. For premium baby bottles, you have to be 100% sure of materials and traceability process (for bottles and teats). I choose Tritan plastic, a high-quality material very well mastered in Europe. Then, I thought "total made in France" was an assurance of reliability and, why not, glamour. When I started to think about the baby bottle design, I was looking for a trilogy : the French motto immediately came to my mind (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). The name of the brand was then obvious : Le Biberon Français (meaning the French baby bottle). Starting from that, it was unthinkable to manufacture abroad.

What French manufacturing evoke to you ?

Now that my baby bottles are out, I can retrospectively say that I am proud of this choice. Thanks to the project, I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of astonishing French companies, from the young and gifted graphic designer who undertook its own company, to a dynamic design study SMB, and also a major global company number one in the production of technically complex silicone products. Plus, I thought my project will also contribute to create jobs in France. "Made in France" is undeniably a commercial trend. As far as manufacturing process is concerned, quality was an evidence thinking about my children.

Can you tell us some of your future projects...

I have been working for more than a year on this project for which I handled every single part of it (with the help of a wonderful technical consultant). The more you do, the more you like what you do !
Now, the next steps are :

• Find the right commercial agents for the areas not yet covered,
• Create new graphics for the 2018 collection,
• Develop adaptable accessories and expand the range of products. I am working on that so... hush !

www.lebiberonfrancais.fr

• baby
• accessories
• design