The trade may have begun in 1828 when the first successful trip is said to have been made by Henri Ollivier. From the area around Roscoff in Brittany known as "Bro Rosko", Johnnies found a more profitable market in Britain than in France, and typically brought their harvest across the English Channel in July to store in rented barns, returning home in December or January. They could have sold their produce in Paris, but the roads and the railways were bad in the 19th century and going there was a long and difficult trip; crossing the channel was shorter and easier.