It's Tuesday, February 16, 1932. With a bundle of papers under his arm, Jean Mantelet has been waiting his turn for some time at the offices of the National Institute of Industrial Property in Paris. Every now and then, he picks up the documents and gives the sketches they contain a final look: he checks the drawing of the rotating disc, the sieve, and the metal bowl, which has a slightly convex bottom. This is precisely one of the features of the food mill he wants to patent. Locked away in his workshop, Mantelet has worked hard to develop a system for making purees without any lumps. At ten minutes to three in the afternoon, an official has already checked everything and stamps the paperwork: with the number 732,100, the Moulin-Légumes has just been patented. This is the invention that launched Jean Mantelet's entrepreneurial career and planted the seed of one of the most renowned French brands in the world. Today, Moulinex is one of the flagship brands of the SEB Group, a European appliance giant whose portfolio also includes Krups, Rowenta, and Tefal, among others. With 32,000 employees worldwide and a presence in 150 countries, it generated €8.26 billion in revenue in 2024. But how did Mantelet manage to make Moulinex one of the most ubiquitous brands in the kitchen?