Capagro's portfolio company La Belle Vie officially acquires Frichti's activities

Frichti LaBelleVie Capagro Food Foodtech Tech

28/09

The merger gives rise to Frichti Market, an unrivalled home delivery service for meals and groceries.

Paris, September 27, 2023 - La Belle Vie, a French pioneer and major player in home shopping delivery in the Ile-de-France region, announces the takeover of the activities of Frichti, a meal delivery specialist. Frichti has been in receivership since May 2, 2023.

"As a French player, we are particularly proud of this outcome. Born the same year as Frichti with strong ambitions in foodtech, we share a taste for "good products" and quality cuisine. Frichti has succeeded in creating a strong brand with thousands of loyal customers. We're going to keep its premium DNA and apply our healthy, robust growth model to it," comments Paul Lê, co-founder of La Belle Vie.

Launch of Frichti Market

Available immediately, this offer is aimed at both Frichti "regulars" and new users looking for convenience. Frichti Market offers the usual selection of home-cooked meals, as well as the 2,500 fresh and artisanal products that Frichti users value so highly. What's more, they now benefit from a much wider range of food products, renamed La Halle Frichti, with 6,000 items (fresh produce, bakery, creamery, butcher's, seafood, cellars, aperitifs, etc.). From now on, users will be able to order their lunch and add a varied shopping basket to the same order.

The Cantine 2.0 and Cafet' BtoB offers are retained in the Ile-de-France region, representing 1,600 companies delivered every week and 14 company restaurants.

Birth of a new French giant.

In the face of unbridled international competition, La Belle Vie has never wavered from its strategy of developing the most efficient logistics technology for controlled profitability. By prioritizing product quality and variety, and assuming the end of darkstores, La Belle Vie has built up a community of loyal customers and consolidated its place in the market. Following this merger, the company has become the leader in same-day delivery in the Ile de France region.

The La Belle Vie site remains unchanged, offering 25,000 items delivered within a few hours for the whole family. Frichti Market is aimed more at customers looking for instant convenience, in Paris and the inner suburbs, so they can have lunch immediately and complete their daily shopping in 1 hour.

La Belle Vie has a 1,300 m2 kitchen laboratory in Montreuil and a 4,700 m2 warehouse in the heart of Paris that complies with local urban planning regulations. The Frichti Market offer will be deployed from these existing infrastructures and the 4 Frichti hubs that have been retained.

"Our strategy is to become profitable very quickly. To achieve this, we're going to abandon the current quick commerce model, which has shown its limitations, in favor of a slightly slower delivery system based on rounds. Round trips from a dark store are no longer an option. Our delivery drivers will leave from a single large warehouse for rounds with more products," explains Alban Wienkoop, co-founder of La Belle Vie.

La Belle Vie is committed to maintaining 168 Frichti employees based in the Paris region, in addition to the current 376.

The transaction amounts to 30,000 euros, plus a provision of 450,000 euros to take back inventories.

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About La Belle Vie

Founded in 2015 by Paul Lê and Alban Wienkoop, foodtech La Belle Vie offers an ultra-wide range of delivery services. The French leader in home shopping now boasts over 25,000 items, including 5,000 fresh, organic and artisanal products, as well as groceries and everyday items, delivered between 1 and 3 hours throughout the Ile de France region, i.e. 1,300 towns. In total, La Belle Vie has raised 41 million euros from Left Lane, Capagro and Quadrille capital.

Contact Presse - Agence Raoul

Alexandre Costes
alexandre@agenceraoul.com
06.72.71.97.98