Luxury Lifestyles – Luxury Yacht and Villa Provisions in the French Riviera

Just where exactly does one go for 12 dozen bottles of Dom Perignon Vintage champagne, 50 kilos of top notch veal steaks and still make sure there are enough eggs for the crew for breakfast in the morning?

Something rarely talked about in the luxury market is the behind the scenes aspect of provisioning a large yacht. Feeding 200 guests is a major undertaking, especially when a high caliber of food and drinks are required.

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of shopping on the French Riviera will know just what a chore finding things can be. Particularly if you need them this week, and wish to avoid killing the shop assistant when he shrugs, says the immortal words, “pas possible,” and turns his back on you to continue his very important conversation about how annoying all the tourists are at this time of the year.

So an entire industry has sprung up around the provisioning needs of luxury yachts and villas based along the French Riviera.

Like any other aspect of the luxury market, there is luxury and there is luxury. I was fortunate enough to be recently invited to sample some of the wares of one particular luxury supplier, Shore Solutions.

I am not sure if I should consider sausages a bribe, but it has worked, and persuaded me to write about Shore Solutions. I ate what has to be one of the best sausages I have ever tasted. Chicken and sun dried tomato. Hand made to order in London and flown in as needed. Sausages are one of the more minor items in their catalogue, but to give you an idea of the level of service, they offer bespoke recipes, hand made, with a guarantee that they will not supply that particular recipe to any other customer.

Included in their 200 page catalogue are products from a huge range of luxury market-leading brands, including Moet Hennessy, Maison du Chocolat, Jo Malone, Penhaligons and The White Company.

The catalog lists their basic stock, but their forte is sourcing unusual and difficult-to-find products, and nothing is too much trouble. If you really must have red Hawaiian sea salt dried in the Wednesday afternoon sun, cinnamon rolled on 15-year-old virgin’s thighs from a small village in the Himalayan foothills, or some other outrageous luxury, give these guys a try. I mean, for goodness’ sake, they have 42 different salts in the catalogue and are still not satisfied they have a large enough selection.

And then there is their wine cellar. I am not ashamed to admit I prefer a higher quality beverage, but I am ashamed to admit I didn’t know there were that many premium Vodkas – 200+, including the world’s first luxury vodka made from fine French grapes. Along with more than 400 fine whiskeys and bourbons, plus a massive range of fine vintage champagnes and wines.

Another reason I have chosen to write about this company (apart from the sausage bribe) is the fact that they refuse to be drawn into the usual back-handers-for-orders, the bane of the yacht owner. While others are scrambling about offering kick backs, they stand aloof, offering instead, unparalleled service and quality. Just don’t tell them you are on a tight budget. If you must have it by Friday morning at the latest, the last thing they want to hear is that it was cheaper from the last guy who let you down.

Shore Solutions deliver all over the world, from Antigua to Venice, Sardinia to the Seychelles. They are based in London, but have local offices in Antigua and Nice.

Their operations manager in Nice is Luc Perrone, responsible for all aspects of the operation during the Med season. Luc speaks fluent French, Italian and English and can be reached on:

Tel – +33 (0) 63 17 79 403

Email – Luc Perrone

Company contacts:

Worldwide orders – +44(0)207 403 2552
French orders – +33(0) 49 37 13 649