Marseille Soap By Rampal Latour

A more responsible traditional Marseille soap

In previous centuries, at the time ofthe golden age of Marseille soap, the question of the environment did not arise in the same way as today. For example, traditional cooking in an open cauldron, which lasts 4 to 10 days, at a high temperature, is very energy-intensive. Similarly, the process generates a large quantity of discharges to be reprocessed: the water from the salting out, the water from the numerous washes and the water from the liquidation. The water discharged at the outlet of the manufacturing workshops and heavily loaded with impurities was not treated.

Rampal Latour has developed the Marseille soap manufacturing process, as has always been the case, by imposing a double requirement: to continue to manufacture authentic and traditional Marseille soap while adapting to current concerns of respect of the environment. Rampal Latour innovates to save water and energy.

To achieve this objective, it was a question of keeping a discontinuous manufacturing process, in the cauldron, by bringing innovations made possible by current technologies and techniques, to optimize the essential stages in order to make the process totally efficient and more eco-friendly. To this end, Rampal Latour has acquired comprehensive scientific expertise on the manufacturing process and on the analytical methods used to monitor the reaction and characterize the quality of the raw materials and the finished product:Marseille soap.

Having this scientific expertise is in itself a major innovation. Indeed, until now the process of making Marseille soap was above all based on the experience of master soap makers. A mainly empirical and visual know-how with little analytical and scientific data. This process has not evolved for more than a century. Thanks to the manufacturing process that now allows key parameters to be measured with precision, Rampal Latour can control the evolution of the dough step by step.

These major innovations are now patented by the INPI:

See the Press Release!

A more responsible process that uses 4 times less water and 7 times less energy while scrupulously respecting tradition.

Guaranteeing Marseille soap made with respect for the environment is at the heart of Rampal Latour's commitments. Reduce the environmental footprint of its production and act as a responsible actor, according to modern standards of social and environmental responsibility. From an ecological point of view, the figures speak for themselves: the manufacture of Marseille Rampal Latour soap now consumes four times less water and seven times less energy, with no discharge into the city's wastewater.

An authentic Marseille soap made to respect the skin

Dermatologically, thanks to these patents, Rampal Latour offers the first Marseille soap that does not dry out the skin: during production, it retains as much glycerin as a moisturizing cream. A gentle revolution to take care of the skin!

The authentic Marseille soap that protects the skin

Marseille soap becomes skin care, natural and healthy.

Raised to the rank of skincare products, the extra-mild Savon de Marseille now respects sensitive skin and no longer dries out the skin. From now on, all those who did not use it will be able to rediscover one of the healthiest, most natural and hypoallergenic skin products available. Thereglycerin, known for its moisturizing properties, is not added to soap: a precious material naturally generated during saponification, it was previously extracted and rejected. A major innovation, the preservation of the natural glycerin in Marseille soap respects the traditional “Marseille process in a cauldron” of which the company has been the custodian for 190 years.

The only ingredients used to make authentic Marseille soap stamped Rampal Latour are: 100% purified vegetable oils, soda, salt and water.

Moreover, one of the specificities of our know-how is the care and the requirement that we bring in the selection and the transformation of our raw materials in order to preserve the original purity of the Marseille soap. Finally, vegetable oils are traditionally used in the manufacture of Marseille soap.

Our quality requirements for unequaled purity

100% purified vegetable oils

To allow everyone to use natural and healthy products, we have chosen to use purified oils in our Marseille soap. Thus, the purified vegetable oils that we select must meet the most demanding regulations in terms of contaminants and toxicity. With this considerable qualitative leap, we offer our customers a product of exceptional purity which best respects the health of the skin and the body: we wanted to take the lead in relation to society's concerns about the harmful effects cosmetic products and the need to regain confidence through pure, natural and non-toxic products.

Our high standards have pushed us to the point of selecting a unique, extremely pure salt: Salies-de-Béarn salt.

To preserve the purity of Marseille soap, we select a salt of exceptional purity: Salies de Bearn salt. It is a 100% natural salt, exceptionally rich in trace elements and whose source is protected from pollution by the thick clay layer that covers it. Present naturally under the Pyrenees for millions of years, the salt of Salies-de-Béarn is protected deep in extremely pure waters. Its method of production is authentic and traditional: it is obtained by simple evaporation of groundwater in a salt pan, a method already used under the Roman Empire. The white gold of Salies-de-Béarn is, for example, recommended for obtaining the IGP Jambon de Bayonne.

This is how Rampal Latour has been taking care of the skin of young and old every day since 1828. A Living Heritage Company, Rampal Latour is also strengthening its ecological commitments with a Marseille soap certified COSMOS NATURAL by Ecocert.