Ficelle is a delicatessen located in the Gardens of Carthage. In addition to the classic brands found in most of the fine grocery stores of Tunis, it offers eggs and farm chicken. Twine (Ficelle) also organizes events around the gastronomy of the regions of Tunisia. The last one was held around the “Ftet” of Beja. Meeting with the promoters of the project. Interview led by Lamia Bouzizri
1001Tunisie: To present your brand Ficelle, what would you say?
Ficelle, the delicatessen: We are located at Jardins de Carthage 100 meters from the International Carthage High School (ISC) and we opened our doors on April 14, 2017. We sell food products from the Tunisian region. Sweet and salty of course!
What is the definition and role of a delicatessen in your opinion?
We believe that a delicatessen is a place where consumers have the chance to find a variety of organic or natural products without preservatives, high quality and especially made by Tunisian artisans. A delicatessen must ensure that the needs of a specific range of customers are met and tries to vary culinary tastes and pleasures in order to maintain them.
What brands are present at Ficelle?
At Ficelle, you will find several brands, all Tunisian and we offer sweet and salty. The brands vary according to the request of our customers: Atlantis (Chocolate spread), jams (Fine Mouth, PAm PAm, Délice de Djebba), crackers and sauces (El Mezza), Granola (Granmech), cheese (Creamer, Trenti, Borj Lella) delicatessen (Smokehouse, Phoenician), Spices (Ben Jamia), dates and dried figs (Tazart) and several other products …
Do you offer products that are specific to your brand Ficelle?
Absolutely! We also offer our own products such as honey, granola, clarified butter, olive oil, dried tomato with olive oil, dried mint, bread crumbs … We try to start our own productions in order to acquire a bigger share on the market and to make known our brand String (Chicken Farmer, farmer eggs …)
At the end of this experience, what does the Tunisian client appreciate? How is he ? Is an amateur client, demanding, curious, …. ?
From our little experience, we found two points. The Tunisian wants to consume organic and natural products and our footsteps of the industrial products of big surfaces from where the birth of a new mentality and new behaviors. Another thing, the Tunisian customer likes the “homemade”. He is really fond of spices, jams or “harissa” in the style of our grandmothers. The time when all the products were “Diari” we miss it!
How is the selection of the brands that Ficelle propose in your delicatessen done?
The choice of our products is based on our new encounters. It is especially during the fairs, the culinary events and the activities of the associations that we discover new brands. Social networks are also useful for this purpose. It is also common for craftsmen to contact us and make us discover their products. When we like the product, either we make a sales deposit or we buy the product when it is really a crush!
How to keep in touch with customers and suppliers? Being up to date is not so simple!
We must be! We must be on the page.
Does the Ficelle delicatessen organize events?
And how ! We organized an event around the “Ftet de Beja” which was a real success. We spoiled our guests with this traditional Bejois dish and we enjoyed ourselves! For our next events, we will organize a day of “sweet Beja” and the famous “Borzguene.” We will offer again the “ftet” in view of the great demand of our customers.
For further information: https://www.facebook.com/ficelleepiceriefine/