Les Marmites Volantes
FRANCE
Contact: commercial@marmitesvolantes.fr
Localisation: Paris (75)
Sector: Catering
Date of creation: 2012
Date de meeting: March 2021
Maturity of the project: Mature
Overview
Summary of the project
Les Marmites Volantes is a responsible catering project initiated by its 4 founders in 2011 with the objective of offering tasty and convivial meals while being in line with the ecological transition. Today, Les Marmites Volantes has two restaurants (Paris XIXth and Montreuil), delivery in companies and a canteen service for elementary schools in Paris and its suburbs and an EHPAD.
In addition, the Marmites Volantes are also four commitments:
- a sustainable supply.
- an optimized waste management with a sorting of bio-waste and a zero waste solution thanks to the use of returnable containers.
- the use of soft mobility. All deliveries are made using electrically assisted bicycles.
- a social commitment, including inclusive recruitment, training and internal promotion.
The company is recognized by the ESUS label: Entreprise Solidaire d’Utilité Sociale
One of the objectives is to show that it is possible to do catering differently.
The company now has four activities:
- Catering in 2 restaurants (Jaurès and Montreuil)
- Deliveries to companies
- Collective catering in 12 private schools and an Ehpad since the Covid crisis. The first deliveries began in 2018, with the installation in 2020 of a production laboratory in the La Chapelle district of Paris, dedicated for schools.
- Cafeteria launched in early March 2021 at in the School of Decorative Arts.
More contracts in collective catering were accepted during the health crisis due to the development of telecommuting in companies.
Here is an overview of the distribution of activities post -covid and during the covid:
Post: 40% collective / 40% companies / 20% restaurant
During: 55% collective (school + EHPAD) / 15% companies / 40% restaurant
Zoom on the label ESUS [1]
The ESUS (Entreprise Solidaire d’Utilité Sociale) approval is part of the 2014 law on social and solidarity economy aiming at the implementation of an environment favorable to the development of social and solidarity economy companies.
The conditions for obtaining the ESUS label are as follows:
pursue a social utility as a main objective
to prove that this search for social utility has an impact on the company’s income statement or profitability
a remuneration policy that respects the following 2 rules
the average of the 5 best paid employees/managers cannot exceed an annual ceiling of 7 times the minimum wage
the compensation paid to the highest paid employee of the company may not exceed an annual ceiling of 10 times the minimum wage
– the company’s shares must not be traded on a financial market
Certain companies known as “full rights” are not subject to the conditions for obtaining approval, except for the condition that they are not listed on a financial market.
Duration of validity :
Once delivered, the ESUS approval is valid for a period of 5 years. This duration is limited to 2 years for companies whose creation date is less than 3 years before the date of the application.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Key figures
- 2 restaurants (Jaurès and Montreuil)
- 4 historic engagements
- In 3 years, 4T of packaging avoided thanks to the kettles
- In 7 years: 80000 km travelled by bike
- 50% of jobs are the result of internal promotion
- 25 employees
Pillars of circular economy
- Sustainable supply of resources with the establishment of short circuit with products coming directly from producers (35% of food). These “direct producers” foods come from the Ile de France, the Hauts de France and the Mayenne… For the rest of the products, the Marmites Volantes use small intermediaries such as Terroirs d’Avenir, Zingam or Biocoop Restauration. The electricity supplier was also chosen to be in agreement with the values of the Marmites Volantes; it is Enercoop which guarantees an electricity produced from renewable energy.
- Eco-design with the use of second-hand furniture for the restaurant rooms. For example, the restaurant tables were made with recycled materials. The wood of the old counter will be transformed into shelves.
- Responsible consumption with a sustainable supply, seasonal products from short circuits. The delivery of the dishes is also done according to an objective of soft mobility. The three deliverymen, employees of the company, use electric bikes for all deliveries (private and collective). Les Marmites Volantes takes its name from the use of returnable containers: marmites. These containers guarantee the reuse of the latter and thus the end of single-use containers.
- Recycling with the sorting of bio-waste and the composting of the latter.
project functioning
1. Responsible procurement
The first commitment of the co-founders of Les Marmites Volantes is to a sustainable supply of resources. The choice is made to work with producers whose production methods we know and to use raw and seasonal products. 35% of deliveries are made directly to the producers.
90% of the fruits and vegetables are organic, but beyond the label, it is common sense that prevails.
Many partnerships are historical, like the one with the market gardeners “Le BioGardin” with whom they work hand in hand since the creation of the flying pots.
A small overview of the different suppliers:
- Fruits and Vegetables : Le BioGardin, market gardeners located in Oise, Le Zingam, Terroir d’Avenir and the Coop Bio d’Ile de France.
- Meat: Meignan for pork, Château-Neuf meat in the Hauts de France and Roule ma Poule for poultry (in Seine-et-Marne)
- Creamery and eggs: Goncourt cheese factory, Beillevaire and the brin d’herbe dairy in Normandy.
- Cereals and legumes: Biocoop catering
- Bread: La conquête du pain, based in Montreuil
- Micro Pousse: the urban farmer
- Coffee: the Belleville and Barbès coffee shops
- Beer : the brewery of the being and the brewery of the golden drop
The electricity supply of the two restaurants is done with Enercoop, a French supplier of electricity of 100% renewable origin. Enercoop is recognized as a “truly green” supplier by Greenpeace and Premium by the Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME). [2]
2. Course of a typical day
Catering and deliveries to companies :
8:00 am: arrival of the cooks
8:00 am – 10:30 am: preparation of dishes for deliveries to companies
10:30 am – 12:00 pm : preparation of the dishes for the restaurant
11:00 am : departure of deliveries to companies
12:00 – 14:00 : service on the spot (when authorized) or to take away
15h00- 17h00 : setting up for the next day
Collective catering (12 private schools + 1 Ehpad):
Preparation of meals in the production laboratory in La Chapelle
Deliveries made by the 3 deliverymen on electric bikes.
3. Waste management
Use of deposits: limiting waste in take-away sales
- Business deliveries: deliveries in returnable containers, in the form of pots. Each pot contains the equivalent of 4 portions. The deliverymen of the flying pots drop off the meals for lunch and pick up the empty containers in the afternoon.
- Restaurants: bring your own container and receive a discount on the price of the meal. Otherwise, both restaurants work in partnership with RECONCIL [3]: Réseau d’Emballage Consigné Citoyen et Local. They provide the restaurants with reusable plastic boxes. When the end of the stock approaches, they collect the dirty boxes to wash them and deliver clean boxes in exchange. The advantage is that RECONCIL works with a network of restaurants: once your meal is consumed, you can drop off your empty box in any restaurant of the network.
- Cafeteria: obligation to take your meal in returnable containers. Work in collaboration with the Greengo Depository [4].
How the Greengo deposit works:
- I choose the product I want to consume
- I pay for my product + the deposit on the packaging
- I consume my products
- I drop off my returnable packaging at a Greengo collection point
- I am credited with the amount of the deposit
The sorting of biowaste :
As a reminder, biowaste is food waste and other biodegradable waste. It is important to separate it from other waste because its compacting favors the creation of methane. This greenhouse gas has a warming power 25 times higher than CO2. At Les Marmites volantes, bio-waste is collected by neighborhood associations but also by individuals to make compost. In the 19th arrondissement of Paris, the association Travail et Vie recovers bio-waste and uses it in an urban farm: the Rail Farm. (https://www.fermedurail.org/)
4. Soft Mobility
All deliveries are made by 3 delivery men equipped with electrically assisted bicycles.
5. Social commitment
The company guarantees a healthy and fulfilling work environment, made possible by opening the restaurant only at lunchtime and from Monday to Friday. The employees are therefore free in the evenings and on weekends.
Les Marmites Volantes is not officially recognized as an “integration organization”, which falls within a particular legislative framework.
Nevertheless, one of its objectives is to reach out to “people who are chronically far from employment”. Instead, it offers integration exit contracts: hiring people who have left the assistance and support offered by the integration structures.
The company provides access to a number of training courses: a cooking certificate, professional French courses (around 30% of the company’s employees do not speak French)…
The company has always made it a point of honor to pay its delivery staff.
sustainable development approach
Environmental benefits
The whole zero waste approach by using reusable stainless steel containers or returnable containers has a positive impact on the environment.
The sorting of biowaste helps to counter the production of greenhouse gases that occur when it is dumped with other waste in landfills. Their recovery in compost allows to enrich the soil, the compost being adapted to the agronomic needs of the soil. [5]
Finally, the electricity supplier of the two restaurants, Enercoop, offers electricity of 100% renewable origin.
Economic benefits
The short circuits favour the connection with the producers and the accessibility to good products while dynamizing the territories.
Social benefits
The company is not recognized as an integration mechanism but makes a point of hiring people who are chronically far from employment. It has the ESUS approval.
The deliverymen are employees of the company.
The work rhythm is fulfilling, allowing them to enjoy their evenings and weekends.
Reproducibility & evolutionary perspectives
Evolutionary perspectives
Due to the health situation, the company’s business of delivering to companies is under pressure. The company has been able to accept more contracts with small private schools, which currently number 12, or 850 meals per day.
The company is currently working with private schools since they are free to choose their service provider. Les Marmites volantes is in discussion with various municipalities with the aim of integrating the public market and thus “making better eating accessible to as many people as possible”.
A participative fundraising is currently underway to develop these activities and make “better eating” accessible to as many people as possible.
Copyright CirculAgronomie 2020