Born in the Paris region to a family who had no connection with the agrifoods trade, Michel Guéné had intended to study senior and advanced mathemathics after his baccalaureat. However, his participation in the May 1968 student riots led to expulsion from university and subsequent enlistment in the French Army, effectively changing his career path. He then married and worked in a variety of different jobs, such as distributing prospectuses.

Then chance took a hand. First, he met someone working in meat import/export with whom he went into business. Then six months later the business crashed: "So much for my first contact with the meat trade" he says with a laugh. However, not wanting to admit defeat, he persevered in this line of work, ending up at Rungis in the mid-1970's. In 1979 he set up a business with his brother-in-law and together they bought the Audebert tripe company, which then counted 3 employees and a simple stall in the open-air market. Since then the business has made steady progress despite weathering two difficult periods during the 1996 mad cow disease scare and the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2000, which together resulted in a catastrophic 50% drop in turnover. Following his brother-in-law's retirement in 2003, Michel Guéné found himself running the business with two new associates - recruited from the existing company personnel - 11 employees, 3 market stalls and an annual turnover of some €7.5 million. Audebert's has a threefold customer base. Tripe butchers, general butchers and delicatessens represent 50% of their business, buying a wide variety of products, calf's offal in particular. In fact, as Michel Guéné says "following the mad cow crisis, quality requirements effectively pushed up the price range of this product. Calf's kidneys are most popular and have now become a product associated with wealthy countries."

Their second-largest customer is the Asian population. The Chinese in Belleville (and not the 13th arrondissement) order up to ten tonnes of pork offal per week, accounting for 30% of Audebert's turnover. The remaining 20% comes from top-of-the-range catering services. This includes small volumes of calf's sweetbreads, kidneys and the famous calf's head: "The Chirac effect boosted our sales enormously". With a manner suggestive of Antoine Blondin, Michel Guéné calmly recounts how much he likes his workplace: "I see Rungis as a focal point for exchange and an exceptional platform for quality fresh produce. This market has a unique aura about it. It embodies the pleasure of good eating. Like we used to say about the Halles Market, Rungis is the belly of Paris, and as our products are distributed throughout the country it is also the belly of the rest of France. Its a friendly place with a very special atmosphere. The night shifts here mean that people work together differently. There is a real sense of camaraderie both with the other companies and with customers. I for one have never had any arguments with anyone here." At 57 years old, and after his 10 or 11 hours at Rungis, Michel Guéné can stub out his cigarette, settle back contentedly and reach for one of his beloved crime novels.