Local alternatives to the large delivery platforms that are often criticized are appearing all over France. In Niort, Les Coursiers Niortais has just been created at the initiative of a collective of ten restaurateurs.
First pedal strokes, first deliveries, this Friday May 21 was a day of celebration for Carl, Adam and Jérémie: the inauguration of their service platform “The Coursiers Niortais“.
Moroccan, Italian, French or vegetarian cuisine, for the moment these are the menus of four restaurants in Niort that the three couriers offer for delivery. Ultimately, the cards of the ten restaurants united in the collective “Les restos niortais” will be available.
At the head of the brand Pleasures of the senses, Christophe Parpaix is one of the initiators of this adventure: “At the start of the second confinement, we made a very simple observation: our customers were all waiting for a delivery service, and we were not able to respond.“says the restaurateur.
We needed a service in line with our values
Homemade, fresh products, short circuit, the restaurateurs gathered around Christophe Parpaix all share the same approach. “We identified a collective need, with the idea of pooling costs, and we immediately said to ourselves that we wanted people in line with our quality approach.“he explains.
A Cooperative and Participatory Society
Connected by pole employment, the restaurateurs found in Carl, Adam and Jérémie, three young men hyper motivated to create their structure. “They created a PURPOSE, via the social and solidarity cooperative Coopcycle, which provides them with the management tool, their reservation platform. ”
Employees and majority shareholders of their company, Carl, Adam and Jérémie each borrowed € 3,000 to create their company. The ten restaurateurs are all shareholders up to € 500 each. And the adventure has many supporters: the two electric scooters used for deliveries were financed, one by the Deux-Sèvres CCI, the other by the MAIF.
A mutual commitment charter
Couriers and restaurateurs are bound by a charter which guarantees the new company ten customers to whom it invoices for its service up to 18% of the amount of the delivery (international platforms, such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo, charge around 30%).
And the long-awaited reopening of their stores does not change the enthusiasm of restaurateurs for the project: “We’re going to have a little less demand that’s clear. But there are still many people who are not ready to go out with their family to eat out and prefer to have it delivered to their house. And then there are more and more professional requests for lunch.“specifies Christophe Parpaix, delighted with this human adventure.”It is the result of a common reflection. It feels good because until then, solidarity was not the first quality of restaurateurs“he concludes.
Terme, the Coursiers Niortais fully intend to expand their clientele, and their delivery radius, for the moment limited to 3 kilometers around the city center of Niort.
