Tristan Cano comes from Occitania. Benoît Le Guein, from Picardy. The first knows how to count and organize. The second likes to tell stories and cook. Their paths crossed in 2013 in Paris, it was the beginning of a joint work that was out of the ordinary.

Tristan Cano: from the stove to marketing. Originally from Alès, Tristan Cano dreams of becoming a chef. During his BTS in Hospitality and Catering, he specialized in marketing, a discipline that allowed him to combine the world of gastronomy with his commercial appetites. Once he graduated, Tristan Cano landed an internship at Purgatory, a Parisian place dedicated to cooking and events. It was there that he met Benoît Le Guein. The following year, he continued his specialization by joining the master's degree in "marketing and sales" at a business school in Paris. He did this training on a work-study basis with the caterer Saveurs d'étoiles in Levallois-Perret, where he trained his new accomplice.

Benoît Le Guein: the crazy talent of a "Savant Food". Born between Amiens and Beauvais, Benoît Le Guein turned to the world of cooking at a very early age. He obtained his BEP from the hotel school in Le Touquet. Then, back to Amiens to take a literary baccalaureate, with a focus on visual arts: the young man already liked the back roads and the mix of genres. He then went on to study art in Beauvais, before joining the Beaux-Arts in Quimper. Once he graduated, he continued his singular career with a stop in Paris to obtain a CAP in pastry, while working for various caterers. Then, he joined the École nationale supérieure d'arts de Paris-Cergy, where the man who nicknamed himself the "Savant Food" began research between art and cuisine. He continued his work in 2012 at the ESAD in Reims, where he trained in culinary design alongside Marc Brétillot. A year later, Benoît Le Guein was recruited to create the culinary creations for the events organized at Purgatoire in Paris. It was there that he met Tristan Cano.

The alchemy of an encounter.Very quickly, the duo realizes his compatibility of mood, humor, knowledge and know-how. It was during their collaboration with the caterer Saveurs d'étoiles that they came up with the idea of setting up a joint project. They then do everything possible to bring their ambitions to life. Benoît Le Guein joined the University of Paris Descartes where he learned how to create a company, and OCNI was born in 2014.

In view of the success of their OCNI, Tristan Cano and Benoît Le Guein encourage young people to dare,

To undertake, to get started, like them in 2014. They tell them: "Don't give up, keep going, follow your goal, find the right companions on the road. Go to and see those who are in the concrete. »

Since 2016, Benoît Le Guein has been teaching culinary design at the École hôtelière d'Avignon and the University of Montpellier. Since 2017, he has also been working in the UFR Esthua Tourism and Culture, at the University of Angers.

In 2013, the Cano-Le Guein duo had the idea and the desire to create a common entity. A kind of laboratory to try, test, experiment, search, find, invent, think outside the box... Tristan Cano and Benoît Le Guein want to make a name for themselves in culinary design and food innovation. In 2014, they gave birth to OCNI, whose primary mission is to design unique culinary services for the events sector.

The first edible sharpening pencils The first edible sharpening pencils.

Benoît Le Guein is multiplying his trials and experiments with agar-agar. A special sign of this red algae is that once it has been reduced to a powder, it gels the preparation to which it is integrated. Add to this an experiment conducted by the "Savant Food", during his studies at the Beaux-Arts, with grated gummy bread and we obtain the prototypes of sharpening pencils for seasoning. They were offered for the first time in 2013, during an event organized in a Parisian event venue and the success was immediate. The public is won over by the very fine texture of the pencil shavings once sharpened and the explosion of flavors they diffuse in the mouth.

From the competition of young ambitious entrepreneurs of Alès to the Fair OCNI Factory quickly found its cruising speed. Barely settled in the Gard, the small company won the "Coup de coeur" prize in the Alès Audace competition. This was the beginning of a recognition, which continued during the Paris Design Week of 2015 where the company was noticed for a sensory immersion around the theme of the picnic. The Cano-Le Guein duo has been positioning itself at fairs and exhibitions since 2016 with a very promising participation in the Miam show in Alès: "In two days, we sold our first 150 boxes of pencils," recalls Tristan Cano.

OCNI was quickly spotted at the Made in France show in 2017, then in 2018 Tristan Cano and Benoît Le Guein had the opportunity to present their creations at the Foire de Paris: OCNI, the company, was well and truly launched. That same year, the duo acquired their first premises in Alès and hired their first employee on a permanent contract.

In 2019, the company's dynamism was recognised in the sector. The entrepreneurial duo won the Silver Award at the national Innovafood competition, which rewards the best agri-food innovations in the plant-based sector.

A valuable team spirit  A valuable team spirit.

Today, OCNI has large premises on the outskirts of Alès and a team of 7 employees, including 3 in production and 2 to manage stocks and logistics. "Our team is a lot of people and motivation," says Tristan Cano. As a result, the profiles are varied and the backgrounds atypical. The youngest employee is in her thirties, has just graduated from business school and assumes her southern accent. The oldest is approaching fifty, with a long experience in the central kitchen: he wanted a change of working atmosphere and, at OCNI, we needed his know-how. The team also includes a former childminder and supermarket saleswoman, now a logistics professional. Or a young mother, a former photographer, now in the kitchen... They all form a close-knit and involved group, which the health crisis has not destabilized: between May 2020 and June 2021, OCNI did not stop producing and the company's turnover rose by 15%.