Phenix, the start-up working with businesses to combat waste
France has a few nuggets in the art of combating waste. In a different vein from SaveEat, which we've already interviewed, let's meet Phenix today. This aptly-named start-up (phenix rises from the ashes... just as what we throw away could have a new life), is innovating in the processing of products to turn them into a new resource. What sets Phenix apart is that it helps large companies to make much better use of their products, while supporting a number of associations.
Hello ! Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
Hello !
We're Phenix, and we help companies to reduce waste and make better use of their waste.
Convinced that what we now call "waste" is in fact a resource, provided we know how to put it in the right hands, we are constantly inventing new outlets for surplus materials. In practical terms, Phenix imagines an alternative to the very concept of waste by finding a new use for each of our customers' surpluses.
Phenix was founded 5 years ago by Jean Moreau and Baptiste Corval. Together, they identified the need to reduce waste. And there's a lot to be done... Every year in France, ten million tonnes of edible food are thrown away; almost a third of food production is destroyed without being eaten, simply because it looks bad or is about to expire... the stakes are enormous! Jean and Baptiste started thinking about the Phenix concept. Their ambition was to give products a second life, reduce waste and recycle waste. For the founders, waste is a mine of raw materials for the 21st century.
Phenix is a business model based on the recycling, reuse, resale and redistribution of foodstuffs to non-profit organisations. In practical terms, waste is a cost for the company. The Phenix model proposes to reduce both the cost of processing waste and the tax base for our customers by donating their surplus in kind.
On a day-to-day basis, we offer our customers on-the-ground support and a digital tool: our unsold goods platform. Our platform brings together those who have surplus goods (unsold items, exhibition set design, end-of-collection items, etc.) and those who need them (food aid associations, educational farms, animal shelters, arts associations, etc.). We now work with over 1,000 associations and 1,000 customers, including Franprix, Leclerc, L'Oréal, Leroy Merlin and Airbus, as well as museums and festivals.
How is your company involved in responsible consumption? Why did you choose to focus on this type of project?
By tackling waste, Phenix is responding to a triple challenge:
- An environmental issue
A third of the food produced by the planet, or 1,600 million tonnes, is thrown away every year. That's the equivalent of feeding 65 million people in France for 30 years.
- A social issue
The scissor effect on charities and humanitarian organisations, which are dependent on the reduction in national (down by an average of 3% a year over the last 10 years) and European public subsidies, and which at the same time have to meet the needs of an increasing number of disadvantaged groups (recognised, unrecognised and intermediaries).
- An economic challenge
As well as causing unparalleled environmental costs and excelling as a symbol of our society's excesses, waste represents an economic absurdity for businesses. For them, unsold goods, surplus production and waste are a dead loss as well as a cost centre. In fact, it costs a hypermarket up to €150,000 a year to sort, collect, transport, process and destroy waste.
Thanks to Phenix, every day 50 tonnes of edible food are saved, or 100,000 meals served every day by our 1,000 partner associations!
What's your news? Got a scoop to share?
Last November, Phenix raised €15 million to develop its B2C service: an app for consumers who want to get involved against waste, while eating for less. The Phenix app, launched in January 2019, allows consumers to locate businesses that have unsold food near them, and pick it up at a reduced price. For example, a restaurant owner fills a virtual basket with the equivalent of 12 euros worth of soon-to-be-expired products, which he will no longer be able to re-serve the next day: this will be resold at the price of 5 euros on the Phenix app. Internet users in the vicinity receive a notification as soon as the basket goes on sale. They pay online and can then collect their anti-waste purchase. All kinds of businesses can offer their unsold goods. There are already bakers, restaurateurs, butchers, cheesemongers and florists on the app!
This new service has been designed to complement our existing services, enabling our partner stores to achieve zero food waste, by donating to charities, reselling to individuals on the app, and donating out-of-date food for animal feed (educational farms, zoos, etc.). So no more waste!
Currently only available in Paris, the application is set to expand and will soon be available in Lyon.
CONTACTS
Website : www.wearephenix.com
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