Eco-friendly delivery from Le Potager Voyageur in the Aix-en-Provence Area

success story
Eco-friendly delivery from Le Potager Voyageur in the Aix-en-Provence Area
16 October 2020 / Food Industries, invest in provence, Start your business

Responsible and balanced catering

Nothing stops Le Potager Voyageur! When the meals are ready, the deliveries are done in a single round. The company was created at the end of 2019 near the area of Aix Les Milles and La Duranne. It is accompanied by Provence Promotion to rise and shine. The environment is in the heart of le Potager Voyageur. From the selection of its products to the management of the supply chain, the culinary offer of this brand is based on the commitment of its two founders, a couple from Paris.

The idea of Le Potager Voyageur vegetable garden was born in Paris, but it is in Provence that its roots are planted. To make their project blossom, Pierre-Yves Heitz and his wife Carine chose to return to the South.

During a visit to the Salon du travail et de la mobilité professionnelle in January 2018 in Paris where he met Provence Promotion, Pierre-Yves presented the first foundations of their 2.0 concept in fast food and eco-responsible catering.

"Our business creation project has received an excellent welcome from Provence Promotion. We were followed and supported by the agency which helped us understand our market in the area and put us in touch with relevant economic players" explains Pierre-Yves, who is passionate about cooking and now works in the kitchen of Le Potager Voyageur.

The decision to leave Paris was taken as soon as a real estate opportunity was found: premises in Puyricard to expand in the La Duranne et des Milles business area identified were ideal to start the activity.

An environmental business model

Le Potager Voyageur's e-commerce site was launched in December 2019.

The dishes, in the form of a healthy bowl, are a mix of tradition and world cuisine. They are prepared with fresh and seasonal vegetables supplied by a local producer using sustainable agriculture and organic farming for some products. The objective is to meet the demand of an office clientele in search of healthy and balanced cuisine at affordable prices. Likewise for beverages, there is no question of putting on the menu mainstream sodas but rather quality fruit juices or simply water, all in glass bottles.

Dishes and salads are delivered every day by a refrigerated electric truck in a single trip within a catchment area of 50 km around the production site. Customers must order before 10:30 a.m. online. "Although some of them initially found the idea limiting, they quickly embraced the principle, the objective being to reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries as much as possible." says Pierre-Yves.

Essential partners to stand up to Covid

Le Potager Voyageur barely had time to make itself known before the lockdown. The company was able to hold on thanks to a handful of customers who quickly became regulars of their homemade dishes. "In this situation, networking with local partners was essential" says Pierre-Yves. Professional clubs such as "13 Entrepreneurs" have been a real support for the company, which continues to trace its path in Aix-en-Provence with an unwavering desire to share its flavors and values. "Other professional networks are beginning to come to us. We have even signed a rewarding partnership with a company manufacturing reusable containers in the sector. Le Potager Voyageur aims to develop its personalized evening and weekend offer in the near future. An online personal space allows customers to easily pre-program their orders from their computer or cell phone.