French FoodTech Nestor Wins Profitability Bet
Only two and a half years after its launch, the start-up Nestor, a specialist in delivering lunches to the office, has succeeded where all the French FoodTech foot soldiers have failed: achieving profitability. Focus on a miracle recipe.
Biting off more than one’s stomach seems to be commonplace in the highly competitive food tech market. At odds with the strategy of some prominent players in the sector who are increasing their fundraising, the young company Nestor, with a single round of funding of 900,000 euros in 2024, is paving its way far from the millions raised by the competition. With profitability as its mission.
A feat ultimately accomplished by Nestor, which is a first in France. “We wanted to prove that it was possible, in a market like FoodTech, to combine profitability and growth,” adds Joseph de Chateauvieux, one of the three co-founders of the structure alongside his childhood friends Benoît d’Arrouzat and Sixte de Vauplane. One of the cardinal virtues of the entrepreneur is to identify his target down to the millimeter, Nestor seems to have followed this prerequisite to the letter and lifted a corner of the veil on his “miracle recipe” which begins with the choice of a “single menu”.
Indeed, for around fifteen euros, the young company offers a single menu – which changes every day – consisting of a starter, a main course, and a dessert (Carrot and orange salad, fresh salmon tagliatelle and chocolate brownie, pecan nuts this Wednesday). The first stage of the “profitability” rocket in their eyes: avoiding dispersion. “We started very humbly by delivering to our acquaintances and our inner circle dishes that we cooked ourselves in the morning,” recalls one of Nestor’s three masterminds, Joseph de Chateauvieux. Who also keeps in mind the negative comments and other Cassandras predicting the end of his project in the shortest possible time. “Everyone thought we were crazy and the people who believed in it could be counted on the fingers of one hand. The criticisms were crystallized around the fact that potential customers needed much more choice for their lunch.” However, the trio stayed the course and believed in their star.
The “lunch break” divided by 4 in twenty years
“Our dishes are delivered hot and can be eaten immediately, whereas some of our competitors offer dishes that, without prejudging their quality, nevertheless have to spend a while in the microwave,” emphasizes Joseph de Chateauvieux. The three entrepreneurs quickly realized that their customers, rather than choice, prefer simplicity and speed for lunch. As a reminder, the length of the lunch break has been divided by four in just over twenty years. Because according to a study conducted by Opinionway for Ixina, if the average length of the lunch break was approximately 1h38 in 1996, it has now been reduced to a paltry portion or 22 minutes on average. In these conditions, simplicity and speed preempt choice. However, the single menu allows for speed and flexibility like no other, in particular thanks to the delivery by prediction set up by Nestor.
“Before, we produced on the fly. ‘Hey, we love this dish, it’s going to be a hit’. And so we either produced too much or not enough. Which represented a few thousand euros per day in net losses or lost revenue,” the founders emphasize together. And to lay the foundations for a new, more virtuous model, enriched by the sacrosanct data. “Stéphane, our in-house engineer, took the problem head-on by creating his algorithm. A real war machine, capable of predicting our sales using all the data at our disposal (sales history, weather, vacations, etc.). And which takes us from +20% to 4% waste.” On the operational side, the start-up is also sharpening its weapons, it already has two kitchens, in areas that are extremely strategic for delivering lunches to offices, namely in the 17th arrondissement and La Défense. “We will soon be opening a third one,” adds Joseph de Chateauvieux.
Largest virtual restaurant at the end of 2024
Because the young shoot sees things on a grand scale and continues to weave its web. After having succeeded with a certain mastery in conquering 100,000 customers at a rate of 10% growth per week, Nestor continues to weave its web and is also targeting “Corporates”. “This is a clientele that is not familiar to us at first glance, but we have been able to see that during team meetings and other training days, Nestor could also be an alternative to cold and tasteless meal trays”, underlines the entrepreneur. Especially since word of mouth works rather well. “We also have people who hand out leaflets at the exit of metro stations every morning. It seems a bit ‘Old School’, but it is damn effective”, adds Joseph de Chateauvieux. Before sketching the contours of the next “mountain” to climb. “Our ambition is to become the largest virtual restaurant in Europe by the end of 2024,” explains Sixte de Vauplane, co-founder and CEO of Nestor. Appetite comes with eating.
