For those unfamiliar with Monts de Lacaune: This is the region in southern France where Roquefort cheese is aged and where the country's most famous dry sausages come from. Here, in a hamlet called Millas, Marie-Hélène and Akim Zerouali spent their savings on a house and a sales van in 1995. They bought sausage products from Lacaune and sold them at the markets in Réalmont, Servian, and Mazamet.
They didn't last long. Not because business was bad, but because they would rather make what they sold themselves. They converted the barn next to the house into a workshop and started with fresh sausage and pâté. Both remain products for which they are known to this day. From 2000 on, their market stall featured only their own products.
The question of the pig
At the markets, they were constantly asked where the meat came from. A straightforward answer was difficult at the time, so they changed things. In 1999, together with two neighboring farmers, Alain Cormary and André Pagès, they founded the "Apalhat" supply chain. The rules were simple and remain so: The pigs live on straw, are fed non-GMO grain, and are raised without antibiotics. Carole and Dominique from Tarn joined them in 2003; today, there are six farms between Tarn and Aveyron. One of them raises black Gascogne pigs, an old breed that grows slowly and produces significantly more marbled meat.
Since 2001, the charcuterie has officially been allowed to call itself a "Mountain Zone" product. That may sound bureaucratic, but it is the heart of the matter: The sausages and hams are air-dried in natural drying rooms, and the air up here is special. Moisture comes from the Atlantic, warmth from the Mediterranean, and coolness from the mountains. In 2006, the mayor of Murat even made his own cellar available so that the hams could be aged there.
From the barn to the business
In 2006, the workshop moved into a new building on the road to Albi, with a small shop. It was expanded in 2012, and a visitor gallery was added in 2013, which quickly became a "charcuterie bar": You can watch the people working and eat a board of what they produce. The concept was so well received that the family repeated it in the Albi market halls in 2014. Today, there are three shops: in Moulin-Mage, Lacaune, and Albi.
In 2020, after 25 years, the Zeroualis gave up the weekly markets. Not because the children didn't want to take part—quite the opposite. Pierre built the website, Simon worked with them for a while, and David joined full-time in 2018 and is gradually taking over management. In the summer of 2024, the workshop was expanded once again, primarily to give employees and visitors more space.
Since 2016, the Collège Culinaire de France has designated the business as a "Producteur Artisan de Qualité". This distinction is awarded only to artisanal businesses that control the entire process themselves, and that is exactly what Millas does: breeding, slaughtering, production, aging, and sales—all from a single source. There are now over 70 products, from raw and cooked hams to saucissons and sausages, as well as pâtés and boudins.
Since 2016, the Collège Culinaire de France has designated the business as a "Producteur Artisan de Qualité". This distinction is awarded only to artisanal businesses that control the entire process themselves, and that is exactly what Millas does: breeding, slaughtering, production, aging, and sales—all from a single source. There are now over 70 products, from raw and cooked hams to saucissons and sausages, as well as pâtés and boudins.
