Solidarity and combating food waste alongside start-up Phenix
PHILIPPE VEILLON
Strategy and Development Director, Lagardère Travel Retail France
Following the health crisis and the decline in store footfall at railway stations and airports, the Lagardère Travel Retail France warehouse in Marly-la-Ville had a high level of stock of unsold food products.
In order to avoid wasting this food and use it to help charities supporting people in need, Lagardère Travel Retail France – via Jean‑Claude Fèvre (Director of the warehouse) – developed a partnership with Phenix, a social enterprise that collects unsold products to be distributed throughout France.
As a result, 13 charities in the Paris region, including La Mie de Pain, Banlieues Santé and Fondation de l’Armée du Salut, received the equivalent of €242,000 of products in the second half of 2020. In terms of reducing waste, this is the equivalent of 160,000 meals saved or 81 tonnes of waste avoided.
The initiative was supported by French ministers Jean-Michel Blanquer and Olivia Grégoire, who visited the warehouse in December 2020 while the last unsold items were distributed to the charities before the Christmas period. “The donations received allowed families in difficulty to have access to high quality food products,” commented Abdelaali El Badaoui, President and Founder of Banlieues Santé, who was also present during the visit.
Visit by Jean-Michel Blanquer (French Minister of National Education, Youth and Sport) and Olivia Grégoire (Minister of State for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy) during the distribution of last unsold foods to charities at the Lagardère Travel Retail France warehouse on 18 December 2020 (Marly-la-Ville, France).
“In terms of reducing waste, this is the equivalent of 160,000 meals saved or 81 tonnes of waste avoided.”
Philippe Veillon