The source of the activist commitment of Re-Belle is the deep conviction that healthy food for everyone is possible, “to go against the common belief that when faced with economic constraints, one cannot eat well, let alone do so in a way that is good for the planet,” says Charlotte Porez passionately. “We can create good things even with products that might be wasted, even on a small scale.”
Starting from the observation of a significant social need in the Seine-Saint-Denis area, where women face unemployment rates nearly double that of men, Re-Belle came up with the idea of supporting them through a tailored socio-professional integration path, while transforming fruits and vegetables that could have been wasted into delicious products, particularly jams.
All of this is done within a circular logic: we recover goods that were about to be thrown away, either from large retailers, food aid organizations, or local producers, we sort them, peel them, cook them to make jams, and then we sell these products in independent grocery stores in the department, in large retail, in hotels and cafes, and recently on an online sales site. “We can also be purchased by companies or local authorities for gifts,” adds Charlotte Porez.
Re-Belle is currently working on a development project. A crowdfunding campaign is underway on Mimosa, titled “Give a New Life to Fruits and a Boost to Women,” funding that should allow for the diversification of the product range. “The more different things we do, the more stimulating and educational it will be for the people we support,” explains the director. “And it will also allow for consuming Re-Belle in different ways, particularly in compotes.”
The name chosen for the integration project, Re-Belle, makes perfect sense. “We want to show that there is something else possible, and thus rebel against a reality where an unimaginable proportion of food is wasted, and in the same way, refuse to live in a system that leaves many people behind. We want to say, ‘look, here’s what we can do if we say no, we don’t agree!’”
