The lunch break is saving. But it can also become very polluting. In France, a third of employees bring their meals back in a reusable box. The remaining two-thirds eat lunch outside: “it’s long, unethical and full of plastic,” notes Romain Lhortolat, who found the parade. He and three partners – his brother Sébastien, Léonard Lenglemetz and Romain Guizy – created Fricots, a start-up born in Givors (Rhône) in 2019 around a connected fridge offering local meals in reusable glass jars. Objective: zero waste.
The concept is simple but clever: thanks to an application, the employee opens the fridge door, chooses his meal, regulates it by the means of his choice. At the end of his break, he places his empty jar in a small locker cabinet. When the machine is refueled, the jars are collected, washed and ready to go for a cycle.
The fridge itself is innovative, as Romain Lhortolat explains: “We are the only ones to detect by RFID sensors: we have developed our own technology so as not to have to put a chip on each jar, which would be thrown away. by the employee once he has finished his meal. So there is no electronic waste either. “
Meals provided by local producers
But Fricots does not stop there in its environmental bet. Behind this smart showcase, meals are offered in a short circuit: “We also reduce the impact in terms of kilometers and carbon on the dishes, since they are all produced in the Monts du Lyonnais, by the producers themselves. »The menu is even more economical, starting at 7.70 euros.
On the business side, Fricot has already convinced Maison Jouffre, a high-end designer in Villeurbanne, but also the CAF du Rhône, which must feed 800 agents per day. “Our targets range from 30 to 1,000 employees,” specifies Romain Lhortolat, “we adapt the number of windows on the refrigerators according to the number. You should know that the premises of a canteen are expensive in the city center; with this alternative offer, the company has no investment to make. “It’s a much cheaper service than all the other options. “
All the good eco-friendly boxes
Finally, a company canteen takes up space, while Fricots offers a classic fridge format, with a capacity of 50 meals on a surface of one square meter. “You can also be in the halls of buildings, like at Part Dieu where some are shared by several companies. “
Local and waste-free offer, saving space, electricity, time and money: Fricots ticks all the right environmental boxes. Their concept earned them the winners of a call for projects for waste reduction organized by the Métropole de Lyon: their reward, financial support for 18 months, was given to them at the Pollutec fair, Thursday, October 14 in Lyon. . After the Lyon region, Fricots has already established contacts to properly feed the employees of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.