Created in 2019, Baguette Box was intended as a solution for the inhabitants of rural areas located in Alsace, forced to travel for miles to find fresh bread. Thanks to the installation of a home delivery box and an online ordering system, consumers were guaranteed to be able to enjoy their baguette when they woke up. The partner bakers gained new customers, and the start-up was remunerated by renting its boxes and asking for discounts from its suppliers.
With the health crisis, the service developed quickly, too quickly no doubt. Its founder, Maurice Heitz, wanted to apply to rural delivery the same growth recipes as those of tech start-ups, without benefiting from the same funds.
At the end of 2020, i.e. one year after the first deliveries, the company had some 5,000 customers, in 300 municipalities, worked with around a hundred bakers and generated less than 1.5 million euros in turnover. But its treasury, already, proved to be fragile. Also, when in the spring, the company began to pay its bread suppliers late, some of them did not hesitate to stop their collaboration, forcing Baguette Box to suspend its service at the beginning of the summer.
Important debts
Placed in receivership on September 9, 2022, the start-up failed to find another buyer, precipitating its liquidation on Tuesday September 20. This does not concern two franchises of the group, located in the south of Alsace and in Chenonceau (Indre-et-Loire), with which the receiver hopes to reach an agreement as to the use of the brand and the online ordering software.
The company indeed leaves large debts, without assets to recover them. “This represents at least 100,000 euros in debt for the 35 members concerned, and we fear that the structure will be recreated elsewhere, using the Baguette Box customer file to bypass the bakers”underlines José Arroyo, president of the Federation of bakers of Bas-Rhin.
Baguette Box had been chosen by the Grand-Est region to be the first company to benefit from the Europa neo-stock market, a regional stock exchange based on cryptocurrencies and intended to make it easier for local SMEs to raise equity. In the case of Baguette Box, all subscribers were reimbursed. “We were surprised by this liquidation”admits Mark Kepeneghian, manager of the neo-bourse which has still not been launched.