Artisan™ moulard foie gras “à l’ancienne” was introduced into the market in early 2003. Artisan™ is the premium brand of the Sonoma Foie Gras farm, and is different from any other foie gras made in the U.S. and Canada. Our goal was to return to a product that represents foie gras as made by the artisans of southwest France, with a limited, artisanal production, using the traditional diet and evisceration methods we learned while living in the Dordogne.

Our ducks, specially selected for the quality of their livers and meat, are raised free range on a farm in northern California, surrounded by walnut orchards. The climate enables the ducks to be raised outdoors throughout the year, as soon as the ducklings have enough feathering.

After being raised for 12 weeks on completely natural food, the ducks are fed for 2 weeks with an old-fashioned, cooked corn feed that contains no soy products, antibiotics, or hormones, which results in a more flavorful foie gras. The feeding buildings are temperature-controlled, and the birds are housed in spacious group pens.

The processing takes place in close proximity to the farm, and the evisceration is performed only once the carcass is cold, which avoids any damage to the structure of the foie gras and meat. These are air-chilled overnight and then vacuum-packed, resulting in a clean, easy to work with product.

Our production techniques have allowed us to create a product of unique quality, bringing together delicateness of taste, yet little melting when cooked.