Every Tuesday HopVrac brings some locally grown seasonal fruit baskets to Ciposa. Every Thursday, employees have the opportunity to have their local, zero-waste shopping delivered directly to Ciposa.

This is the subscription that Ciposa has contracted with HopVrac, for its employees. I propose you an interview with Léa Quillévéré, one of the two women's founders.

Ciposa News: Hello Léa, could you please explain your innovative concept?

Léa: The idea is to make regional products accessible to everyone, while promoting zero waste, in a simple and practical way thanks to online ordering.

CN: Zero waste is in fact in tune with the time, when and how did this idea come to you?

Léa: My associate Anne-Laure Merlin and I went to the same engineering school, in two different cycles. Friends since a few years and sharing common values, we realized that we had the same project idea. It is summarized as follows: "Making local consumption and zero waste accessible to all".

CN: I am always surprised to see nice projects born from a fortuitous exchange. Could you explain your business in more depth?

Léa: We observed that many people wanted to better consume, and if they don't, it's mainly because of lack of time. So, we developed an online store that brings together many everyday products all packaged in reusable jars. Visitors can do their shopping, pay and collect their orders at the most convenient collection point.

CN: Where are these collection points located?

Léa: Since last year, there is one in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Le Landeron and Les Genevey-sur-Coffrane. And this month, we have opened two more in Neuchâtel, one in Serrières, in Dombresson, in the Val de Travers and the Vallée de la Sagne et des Ponts.

CN: When the order is placed, do you deliver it to the selected collection point?

Léa: Yes, that's right. We prepare all the orders in HopVrac premises, using reusable jars and packaging, then we deliver the orders to the collection points. The customer just has to come and collect his order.

CN: But, as for Ciposa, you also bring fruit baskets to companies every week, right?

Léa: Exactly, it's one of our other activities. We have subscriptions with some companies, and we deliver weekly fruit baskets for the well-being of their employees.
We also use these weekly rounds to deliver the eventual orders placed by the employees.

CN: I've heard that sometimes there are bananas or mangoes in your baskets, aren't these fruits from the region?

Léa: We can't find them within a 100 km area, but we try to find the nearest producer. Bananas, for example, come by boat from the Canary Islands, and mangoes from Sicily.

CN: Thank you Lea for all this information. As a last question, I would like to ask you which products you would like to add to your range?

Léa: We would like to be able to offer meat and fish. But first we have to find a technical solution. Like refillable "vacuum jars", to continue to promote zero waste while enjoying our customers!

​

​To visit their website, click on the following link:

HopVrac.