Amalia Marquet: "At Marquet we offer exclusive products that customers will not be able to find anywhere else"
16/09/2021
With a degree in Commerce and Marketing in 2001, Amalia Marquet decided to return to the family business to apply her knowledge to what has always been her passion for, in part, a family heritage: gastronomy. Amalia, her brother and her father are in charge of the Gourmeterie Marquet in Plaça Coprínceps, one of the references in the Principality for lovers of good food and good wine. The Gourmeterie is currently made up of a gourmet products bristot shop, a wine cellar, a restaurant and a magnificent terrace. Today, we present a small piece of its history.
The beginnings
Q: Where does the passion for wines and gourmet products of the Marquet family come from?
A: This passion began with my great-grandparents, who were already trading wine at the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, they carried wine from Tremp and Tarragona, and sold it in bulk within Andorra. It was not easy because the roads and communications were not as they are now, but they did.
Q: And did your grandparents continue to trade?
A: My grandparents continued with a hotel and restaurant in Canillo, and then my parents opened the first Marquet store on Carlemany Avenue in 1974, mainly dealing in wine. Later my mother insisted on introducing delicatessen products and thus complementing the offer.
Q: Why was the first gourmet shop born?
A: My father did not study oenology or to be a sommelier, but what he felt was really a passion for wine, so he opened the store with the intention of sharing this passion.
Q: Was there a store focused on wine?
A: At that time there was no specialized wine store in Andorra, so he became the pioneer.
Q: And then your mother managed to introduce the products.
A: Exactly. It's funny, because when I look at pictures from then, I see products that we can now find in any supermarket and that are very common, such as broth tablets or butter cookies; but we were the first to import these products for our store. And now we find them everywhere!
Q: Why did it go from "select product store" to Gourmeterie?
A: In the 90s we were only a store, but the market evolved a lot and people did not enter as much anymore because they could find everything in supermarkets, even gourmet products. The concept of Gourmeterie was adopted by my father in order to adapt to the needs of this customer, and it consisted, basically, of putting the products of the store on the table.
Q: Some kind of tasting?
A: Yes, although we were not talking about a restaurant yet, only about tasting certain products. In the same way that you can go to a clothing store and try on your jacket before buying it, you can come to the Gourmeterie to taste the oysters with a glass of wine and know if you want to buy them. And so the concept was born.
Q: It seems like it was a good decision.
A: Yes, we were stronger again because without this tasting activity we might not be here to tell about it.
Evolution
Q: What did the transfer from Carlemany Avenue to Plaça Coprínceps mean, where Marquet is currently located?
A: It was precisely in Coprínceps Square where we experienced the evolution from shop to Gourmeterie, and from Gourmeterie to restaurant. Now the customer has different possibilities.
Q: Which ones?
A: On the one hand, the customer can come to have a glass of wine and a plate of ham, or indeed, any product from the store such as cheeses or sausages; and on the other hand, we also have a restaurant with a small kitchen and top quality fresh products. Any of the options keeps the philosophy of highlighting the quality of the product.
Q: So the product is not altered?
A: We don't do a lot of transformation. Marquet is not a restaurant like there can be Michelin stars that transform the product a lot. Our concept is simpler. It consists of putting top-quality products on the table without much transformation.
Q: Could you give an example?
A: A good example is a grilled Angus beef entrecote with some good fries and some Padrón peppers, and that's it. No sauce, sauce hides everything! (Laughs)
Q: You told us about the Gourmeterie-shop and the restaurant. What spaces can the client find in Marquet at the moment?
A: In addition to the Gourmeterie-shop and the restaurant, you can also find the cellar in the basement and the terrace, where we serve all day.
Customers
Q: What was the Marquet customer like in 1974?
A: I can't tell you what it was like in 1974 because I wasn't there yet (laughs). In 1974 the client was mainly Spanish, and he came to Andorra to look for products that he could not find in Spain due to the Franco regime.
Q: Before moving to Plaza Coprínceps, was the customer also Spanish?
A: In the 50s and 60s a lot of French customers came, but in the 70s and 80s there was a boom in Spanish customers.
Q: And how has the customer evolved since then?
A: I think that, especially since the 2008 crisis, there has been a change in terms of what the customer spends. Although there is always a clientele looking for high-quality products like the ones we offer, now they control more what they spends.
Q: Currently, are the clients Andorran or foreigners in general?
A: Our base clientele is from the country. In fact, it is the fixed and loyal clientele of the country that we have had for many years that has allowed us to function and work throughout the confinement and the year 2020. We have been able to survive thanks to the client from the country.
Q: And what can Marquet offer to the international customer?
A: We can offer a selection of wines and top quality products throughout the year, respecting the highest quality of the products. We select products specifically for our clients in places such as wineries where a small number of bottles are produced, but very well cared for.
Q: Would you say that you can offer exclusivity then?
A: Exactly. We offer exclusive products that they will not be able to find anywhere else.
Q: What is the key to staying as a reference in the gourmet world for almost 50 years?
A: The key is evolution and adapting to changes. For example with the case of the Internet. Now on our website, customers can see our entire wine list, or place orders by WhatsApp and have them delivered to their homes. They are a whole series of small details that allow you to give a quality service to the client, and thus differentiate yourself from other places that may have the same product.
Q: Have these changes emerged as a result of the pandemic?
A: The website that we currently have dates from 2005, and we are also present on social networks, especially on Facebook and Instagram, to inform customers of the news. What has emerged as a result of the pandemic are WhatsApp orders, which with our delivery man, are a quick way to reach the customer in the most personalized way possible.
Product(s)
Q: How would you define Marquet products to a customer who has never heard of the Gourmeterie?
A: We have selected the most characteristic and best quality product from each country. Jamón ibérico from Spain, smoked salmon from Norway, or French cheeses.
Q: Is there any personal motivation in this selection?
A: There are good cheeses in Spain, in Italy, even in England or Switzerland, but beyond Andorran roots, I also have French. This also makes me go to look for products in France (laughs), but it is true that it is the country with the most diversification of cheeses in the world.
Q: What does Marquet want to achieve with its products?
A: I see that, more and more, people not only want a good product at a gastronomic level, but it must also be healthy. We must not forget that a quality product will always be a healthy product. Of course we can eat quinoa, seaweed, and all these foods that have become trendy and that I also consume, but the basis of a healthy diet is a quality product with little transformation.
Q: Does that mean no products with an infinite list of ingredients?
A: Exactly. Now everyone asks if the products contain gluten, or lactose, because they have intolerances and allergies, and then they are surprised because a salami only has pork meat, salt and pepper.
Q: Those are the minimum ingredients.
A: Yes, and it is the healthiest. A sausage made with tradition with a good base product cannot be bad for your health. Without abusing, obviously! It's like wine, if you drink more than one bottle a day, it's not very advisable (laughs). But a glass a day of a good wine will not hurt you.
Q: Is the objective then, to fight against the transformation of the products?
A: Exactly. When I come to see suppliers with their products, the first thing I look at is the ingredient list, even before trying the product.
Q: Because that determines the product that enters Marquet and which does not.
A: Yes, because when you taste it, you can be fooled into taste. If, for example, you buy a chocolate, the first ingredient should be cocoa, then cocoa butter, and the subsequent ingredients will be, depending on the type of chocolate, sugar, milk, hazelnuts... But if cocoa and cocoa butter, which are the basis of chocolate, only appear in second or third position, be suspicious.
Q: Should they be in order from more to less quantity?
A: By law it is mandatory to put the product of which there is more quantity, first, and to decrease. If a chocolate starts with sugar, it can't be good. These are little tricks when buying that can also help us eat higher quality products and, therefore, healthier.
Q: Do you have contact with artisans and manufacturers?
A: Yes. We have been working with the same houses for a long time, although we are also adding some new ones, and we check if the product remains the same. It is a constant job because houses can change owners, teams, or even policies, and this can affect the products and their quality.
Q: What are the star products?
A: Ham, cheeses, smoked salmon, foie gras...
Q: And the most revolutionary?
A: We don't really invent anything. If the customer comes to look for a balsamic vinegar, let it be an "aceto di Modena" from one of the best Italian houses. But novelties at the gastronomic level, such as molecular cuisine... It is not my philosophy. If I sell caviar, I sell caviar.
Amalia
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your profession?
A: Contact with the customer. And the contact with the supplier as well. It is a great luck because we are in the middle and we make transmitters of products of the highest quality. And being able to offer this satisfaction, this pleasure to customers, is priceless. Without a doubt, what I enjoy the most is the satisfaction that customers leave happy.
Q: And what about the experience of the world blind tasting championship organized by the Revue du Vin de France?
A: (Laughs) We have done a few with my brother and two other people who were part of the Andorran team. The first championship was in Europe and it was held in Priorat, and about 15 teams participated. I remember that the Spanish team was very favored because there were people from wineries, specialized journalists, very incredible people who were professionals. And we came but almost as tourists because we had not studied, or tasted, or anything.
Q: But you were fifth!
A: Yes! At first people looked at us because we arrived with the Andorran flag and they looked at us as if to say "who are those?" and they laughed a bit, but in the end we were right in front of Spain.
Q: And in the following championships you never came down from fifth position.
A: They were 5 or 6 years always between the third and the fifth position. What happens is that now for work reasons it is somewhat more complicated to organize ourselves to prepare it. Sure, now they are world championships with 20-25 teams, you can't go as a tourist (laughs).
Q: Do you have a predilection for any particular wine?
A: For me Burgundy in France is a magical and still very mysterious area. Only with a variety of wine, the Pinot Noir, can you go from one town to another, from one producer to another, and find extraordinary differences.
Q: And for any product?
A: Now that we were talking about intolerances... If one day I had to be banned from something, what I would really miss is cheese. I eat sausages and ham, but very sporadically. But what is a lunch or a dinner without a piece of cheese...
Q: That's a no brainer.
A: There is an expression in France that says that cheese is the drunkard's cookie because, if you still have a glass of wine, you are not going to finish it alone, then you ask for cheese. But if there's cheese left and you don't have wine, you order more wine.
Q: And then it is a cycle that never ends.
A: Exactly! (Laughs)