OCNI (Objects Comestibles Non Identifiés) was born in 2014 from the creative fusion of two passionate French talents: Tristan Cano, a marketing-savvy gastronome from Occitania, and Benoît Le Guein, an inventive culinary designer from Picardy. Together, they reinvented the way we season food—with a pencil you can sharpen directly onto your dish.

Tristan Cano, originally from Alès, began his journey in the culinary world dreaming of becoming a chef. While studying hospitality and catering, he developed a strong interest in marketing, bridging the gap between gastronomy and business. With experience at high-end catering companies and a master’s degree in marketing, Tristan became the strategic mind behind OCNI.

Benoît Le Guein followed an unconventional path—starting with a BEP in cooking, then shifting to fine arts and visual studies. A graduate of the Beaux-Arts and a pastry chef, Benoît explored the blend of art and cuisine, studying culinary design under Marc Brétillot. His artistic vision and experimental approach gave birth to OCNI’s unique identity.

They met in Paris while working in culinary events and quickly realized their shared passion for innovation, food, and storytelling. From this synergy came the first Natural Spice Pencil—a sustainable, organic, and playful seasoning tool made in the South of France.

Today, OCNI continues to surprise chefs, home cooks, and design lovers with products that blend culinary creativity, French artisanal quality, and ecological values. Tristan and Benoît also dedicate time to mentoring and teaching, encouraging young creators to innovate and pursue their ideas with courage.

In 2013, the Cano-Le Guein duo had the idea and the desire to create a common entity. A kind of laboratory to try, test, experiment, search, find, invent, think outside the box... Tristan Cano and Benoît Le Guein want to make a name for themselves in culinary design and food innovation. In 2014, they gave birth to OCNI, whose primary mission is to design unique culinary services for the events sector.

Benoît Le Guein is multiplying his trials and experiments with agar-agar. A special sign of this red algae is that once it has been reduced to a powder, it gels the preparation to which it is integrated. Add to this an experiment conducted by the "Savant Food", during his studies at the Beaux-Arts, with grated gummy bread and we obtain the prototypes of sharpening pencils for seasoning. They were offered for the first time in 2013, during an event organized in a Parisian event venue and the success was immediate. The public is won over by the very fine texture of the pencil shavings once sharpened and the explosion of flavors they diffuse in the mouth.

From the competition of young ambitious entrepreneurs of Alès to the Fair OCNI Factory quickly found its cruising speed. Barely settled in the Gard, the small company won the "Coup de coeur" prize in the Alès Audace competition. This was the beginning of a recognition, which continued during the Paris Design Week of 2015 where the company was noticed for a sensory immersion around the theme of the picnic. The Cano-Le Guein duo has been positioning itself at fairs and exhibitions since 2016 with a very promising participation in the Miam show in Alès: "In two days, we sold our first 150 boxes of pencils," recalls Tristan Cano.

OCNI was quickly spotted at the Made in France show in 2017, then in 2018 Tristan Cano and Benoît Le Guein had the opportunity to present their creations at the Foire de Paris: OCNI, the company, was well and truly launched. That same year, the duo acquired their first premises in Alès and hired their first employee on a permanent contract.

In 2019, the company's dynamism was recognised in the sector. The entrepreneurial duo won the Silver Award at the national Innovafood competition, which rewards the best agri-food innovations in the plant-based sector.

Today, OCNI has large premises on the outskirts of Alès and a team of 7 employees, including 3 in production and 2 to manage stocks and logistics. "Our team is a lot of people and motivation," says Tristan Cano. As a result, the profiles are varied and the backgrounds atypical. The youngest employee is in her thirties, has just graduated from business school and assumes her southern accent. The oldest is approaching fifty, with a long experience in the central kitchen: he wanted a change of working atmosphere and, at OCNI, we needed his know-how. The team also includes a former childminder and supermarket saleswoman, now a logistics professional. Or a young mother, a former photographer, now in the kitchen... They all form a close-knit and involved group, which the health crisis has not destabilized: between May 2020 and June 2021, OCNI did not stop producing and the company's turnover rose by 15%.