Located within the legendary Original Farmers Market at Fairfax and Third, Monsieur Marcel is a family-owned, French-inspired restaurant, seafood market and speciality food and giftware store in Los Angeles. Its shelves are packed with a thoughtfully-curated collection of the world’s finest gourmet foods and artisanal ingredients, including REAL vanilla from LittlePod. Our association dating back several years, we asked Katy, who owns Monsieur Marcel with her husband Stephane (both pictured), to give us an insight into LittlePod in LA.

Katy, thank-you for supporting LittlePod and our Campaign for Real Vanilla! Could you give our LittlePodders an introduction to Monsieur Marcel?

Monsieur Marcel has been operating for over 25 years now. My husband (the French guy) and I (very American) moved to LA after our first five years of marriage. I was working in another field at that time and he decided to open Monsieur Marcel at the Original Farmers Market. In time, I quit the job I was doing and went to work there with him instead. Monsieur Marcel is a highly-curated gourmet market, with a French bistro attached. We sell the best products from many different countries and are a playground for chefs and foodies alike. We pride ourselves in stocking new products first, before they reach the mainstream markets.

Products like LittlePod! This sounds right up our street!

Yes indeed! We also have a seafood market that operates under the same name, and an oyster bar and seafood grill called Roxy & Jo, which was named after our daughters, Roxanne and Josephine. Monsieur Marcel is located in the Original Farmers Market in the heart of LA. This has been a landmark in the city since 1934.

Can you explain how our products ended in such a legendary location?

We first met Janet through another distributor in New York. We sold LOTS of LittlePod vanilla and eventually I made contact again to see if we could deal direct. Voila, all this time later and here we are! Your clever squeezable tube of high-quality vanilla paste is what made us so keen to stock LittlePod products in our store, and LittlePod vanilla fits really well here in Los Angeles.

We’re a great match, don’t you think?

For sure! The packaging is so beautiful and it really stands out on the shelf at Monsieur Marcel. But of course, the quality of the product inside is just as important!

Which of our products do your customers like the best?

Your natural vanilla paste and pure vanilla extract are always very popular here.

Popular with who?

Popular with all sorts of people – from home bakers to Michelin-starred chefs and everyone in between too!

But what about you?

I’m a HUGE fan of vanilla and I honestly think it can never be overused. I love to add LittlePod’s natural vanilla paste to my homemade whipped cream. Delicious!

So you’re all about keeping it REAL then?

We don’t stock substitutes or artificial alternatives here. Our customers know that we only carry the best and understand that if it has made it onto the shelves at Monsieur Marcel, the product – and the company behind it – has great integrity and quality.

Could you describe LittlePod and our products in three words before you go?

Beautiful. Quality. Clever.

Perfect – and do you have a closing message to share from LA?

Keep it REAL! LittlePod vanilla is the ONLY vanilla you should buy!

Thank-you Katy, we couldn’t have put it better ourselves!

Sending vanilla hugs to Katy, Stephane and the team for supporting LittlePod and helping us to keep it REAL in California. We look forward to supplying Monsieur Marcel for many years to come and will be sure to look up you if we’re ever in LA x