The Paris region has taken many initiatives to improve social and economic life in its area.
For some time now, it has been paying close attention to products designed to improve short
distribution channels

For example, the region, municipalities and towns are ready to invest in projects that enable residents to consume healthy, local produce at affordable prices by issuing calls for projects every year. In this way, our producers and artisans are promoted, and limiting the transport of goods is less expensive in terms of value for money, and pollutes much less than importing products from abroad, when we could very well grow the same fruit and vegetables or produce the same products 10 or 20 km from home with a higher calorie content because we wouldn’t have to store them in cold rooms for days on end, or dose artisanal products with preservatives so that they expire less quickly. To combat waste and poverty, community grocery shops continue to spring up all over the country with the support of local authorities and stakeholders. Supermarket chains and many retailers have decided to donate their unsold goods instead of letting them expire. Associations and solidarity grocery shops take charge of collection and redistribution. Sometimes, however, certain applications take over, and by registering with them you can collect your basket directly from shops, bakeries or restaurants at significant prices, such as the “to good to go” or “phenix” applications.

The various structures that help entrepreneurs set up their projects:

The “Les champs des possibles“ cooperative helps people who are retraining or unemployed to move into farming, food crafts or the trades that support its lending sectors. They can help you build your project, advise you or train you.

The “impuls’ions“ pulses assist and support a number of people wishing to embark on entrepreneurship in different fields. Impuls’ions members can benefit from training in business/customer relations, marketing communications, social networks/web/internet, security/risk management, management and organization, entrepreneurship and food. They give you the benefit of their networks and numerous partners and place particular emphasis on social entrepreneurship by encouraging you to work in a cooperative. It can be the ideal place to meet your partners and also see your associates.

“Pépite France“ is there for students who want to be entrepreneurs. There are 33 nuggets spread across France and its overseas territories. Students with a project can register and submit their projects during the student entrepreneur recruitment process, which takes place twice a year. If the idea for the project interests the committee, the student is invited to an interview to pitch his or her project. Once the student joins Pépite France, he or she officially benefits from the French status of student-entrepreneur, which gives him or her a number of advantages. Pépites trains and helps them to improve their initial project and develop their potential. A host of training workshops and exercises are organized, and each student is allocated a coach/mentor to help them develop their business plan and bring their project to fruition. Pépite France has a number of partners, including public and private organizations. It enables student-entrepreneurs to attend events such as meetings with researchers in the field of the interested party’s project, meetings with investors and other structures that can support and finance part of the project.

“Station F“ is a well-known, high-quality incubator whose partners include France’s most prestigious business schools, such as HEC, and investors who are ready to invest in the projects of people who are supported and mentored there. With Station F, your project is in the hands of experts and elite French students. To become a member, you have to pass through a panel of judges.

“Andes“ is a large network of solidarity grocery shops across France that fights against food waste and poverty. Working with Andes is ideal for those who want to set up their own solidarity grocery shop, as it already constitutes a large and powerful network and has a logistics and management system that works quite well. People who launch their solidarity grocery shop with Andes are free to manage their grocery shop and are trained beforehand by Andes to be able to manage the grocery shop and the logistics tools. Community activities and events can be organized alongside the shop, depending on the size of the premises and the creativity of each individual.

Of course, many banks offer guidance and financial support to customers who are just starting out. Social entrepreneurship is at the height of its popularity in France, so public bodies are very open to providing support or even subsidies for these types of projects, especially for young people. French public bodies include the chambers of commerce, the Banque de France, Pôle Emploi, the regions and many local authorities.

Sources:

(Les Champs des Possibles | Couveuse coopérative d’activités agricoles et rurales, s. d.): https://www.leschampsdespossibles.fr/

Impuls’Ions, W. (2023, 23 juin). Accueil – CAE Impuls& # 039 ; Ions. CAE Impuls’Ions.: https://www.impuls-ions.com/

Pépite France. (2022, 5 octobre). Construire et développer son projet entrepreneurial – Pépite France. https://www.pepite-france.fr/

F, S. (s. d.). STATION F – World’s biggest startup campus. stationf. https://stationf.co/ ANDES – ANDES, les épiceries solidaires. (2023, 22 mars). ANDES, les épiceries solidaires. https://andes-france.com/