Zakaria Nana | The Soul of a Tea for Peace

In the heart of Rosières, a former working-class town south of Bourges, a handful of tea lovers had the privilege, in 2021, of entering the still confidential workshops of Maison NANA1807 . For the first time, its doors opened to the public as part of the Secret Visits organized by Tourisme & Territoires du Cher.

Founded in 2020 within the family home, the company was emerging timidly. Yet, behind this youth, a deep history already resonated, whose values ​​seemed to respond to a common quest after the Covid-19 pandemic, a rediscovered thirst for sharing. “ In Morocco, from the Royal Palace to the most humble home, mint tea is a tradition consumed by all, a symbol of art and hospitality, ” says Zakaria En Nana, creator of the house, with a smile.

From his origins in Salé, the Moroccan city where he was born in 1967, to Rosières where he grew up, Zakaria, proud to be a “ Berrichon Moroccan”, was shaped “in a social, religious and cultural mix” , where mint tea embodied “ a generous and unifying value ” . In France, his mother, Fatna, who was just beginning to speak French, enjoyed sharing this drink with the neighbors. “ My parents were part of the wave of economic migration that contributed to the reconstruction of Europe ” , explains Zakaria.

In the 1960s, his father, Brahim Cherkaoui—renamed En Nana to facilitate his integration among the many Cherkaoui immigrants under the 1963 Franco-Moroccan agreement—was recruited by a French government agent for construction work in Vatan, Indre. He initially made several trips back and forth between France and Morocco, where his family still resided. “ One day, Dad decided he would never return to France without his wife and children. His employer, satisfied with his work, provided him with a furnished house, and we arrived in Vatan in the middle of May 1968. ”

In 1972, Brahim was hired at the factories that manufactured the famous Rosières stoves and cast iron pans, and it was there that Zakaria, then 5 years old, discovered the rich diversity of this industrial village. Up to 1,300 workers, both French and foreign, shared a solidarity forged by their shared backgrounds, before the slow decline and final closure of the foundry.

Immersed in this multiculturalism, Zakaria remembers an “ extraordinary childhood in Rosières ” and “ summer holidays on the beach in Salé ” . Two places, two stories, “ two refuges where I loved to recharge my batteries between my travels. When I visited my parents in Berry, my mother always welcomed me with a delicious mint tea, in keeping with the tradition of Moroccan hospitality ”.

Because before creating the Maison NANA1807 , Zakaria has traveled around the world for several years.

Of the 193 UN member countries , he visited “ the most economically developed two-thirds .” A business engineer at IBM, where he sold IT solutions to major manufacturers, then international director at Innovatron, a pioneer in smart cards, Zakaria’s “main residence was Air France ,” he jokes.

He also spent a year in Cairo, Egypt, a territory that had a profound impact on him. “ It was just before the Arab Spring. We could feel a growing tension in the country and I think that, apart from my desire to return to my roots, was what made me return to France .” Perhaps it was also destiny because, in 2006, he met Adeline Moniez, a skin jewelry designer and founder of the luxury house Marbella. She would become the mother of his children, Adam, now 17, Engie and Emma, ​​15, all three partners in the tea house in Rosières.