Amid the rapid spread of the new coronavirus across Europe, the hallmark Marseille tradition of soap-making is enjoying a renaissance, as the French rediscover an essential local product.
Serge Bruna’s grandfather entered the then-booming business in the southern port city more than a century ago. His father followed suit, although the family enterprise was requisitioned during World War II, when soap was considered an essential commodity.
Today, Bruna sells soap from the same shopfront on Marseille’s Old Port—wearing a sanitary mask and skintight gloves.
In this photo taken Monday, March 16, 2020, a Savonnerie de la Licorne employee wears a mask as she attends to customers at the soap shop in Marseille.
AP Photo/Daniel Cole
“Even though we work in a factory full of virus-repellent soap, it is good to take precautions,” he said.
Bruna’s Savonnerie de la Licorne, which runs four soap shops on the Old Port, a museum, and a small factory in the heart of Marseille, has seen its shop sales increase 30 percent and delivery orders quadruple since Italy declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus.
“We had fewer tourists or none at all in our stores,” he said. “On the other hand, [Marseilles residents] were much more frequent visitors and some even came to stockpile.”
Discarded bars of soap at the Licorne soap factory in Marseille, southern France
AP Photo/Daniel Cole
With an abundance of local oils, soda, and salt, Marseille boasts a lengthy tradition of producing the natural soaps once prized throughout Europe. But only a handful of businesses are still active.
However, as the public rushed to buy supplies to last during a looming quarantine in France, Bruna and his artisans continued making soap by hand, filling the port-view shops as well as boxes destined for export.
A factory worker produces soap at the Licorne soap factory.
AP Photo/Daniel Cole
Since French shops were ordered closed this week as a public health precaution, the Savonnerie de la Licorne now only carries out deliveries, supplying pharmacies across France and handling individual orders made online.
“I’m not sure that making our soaps is more important than before, but I would say that people who have lost the habit of using Marseille soap have all of a sudden rediscovered its properties,” Bruna said.
AFAR Editor’s Note: While the shop mentioned in this Associated Press story doesn’t appear to be shipping to the United States at the moment, we found similar Marseille soap sold online through lepanierfrancais.com.
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