Fight against food waste: PimpUp enhances imperfect fruits and vegetables in Montpellier

Les fondatrices de PimpUp, Manon Pagnucco et Anaïs Lacombe. DR

Created in 2021 by Anaïs Lacombe and Manon Pagnucco, the mission-driven company PimpUp fights against food waste at the agricultural production stage. Anaïs Lacombe will present the concept at Le Monde nouveau, at Odysseum, on October 5, during the opening pitch on agriculture. 

Too ugly, too big, too small, crooked, in a word imperfect. And hey presto, fruits and vegetables that don't fit into the sales standards end up straight in the trash. This is how 5 million tons of fruits and vegetables are thrown away in France each year before reaching the shops, even though they are largely edible and good to boot. This figure rises to 10 million if we include the end of the distribution chain. A heresy that the mission-driven company PimpUp has decided to fight against.

From the United States to the South of France

Behind the concept of PimpUp are Montpellier residents Anaïs Lacombe and Manon Pagnucco. It was during their agricultural engineering studies between Paris and Montpellier that the issue of food waste arose. More precisely, during their internships in the United States in IT companies, Anaïs in Phoenix, Manon in San Francisco. The latter then subscribes to a platform on which she orders baskets of imperfect fruits and vegetables. It's a revelation.

Back in Montpellier, they try to do their grocery shopping in the same way, "but that didn't exist here. And when we saw the food waste figures, we said to ourselves that we had to do something about it. That's how PimpUp was born. PimpUp to pimp, or highlight ugly fruits and vegetables", says Anaïs Lacombe.

"We saved more than 400 t of fruits and vegetables"

After approaching producers in the region, who were initially skeptical about the two young women's ability to sell these products destined for the scrap heap, Anaïs Lacombe and Manon Pagnucco launched their start-up in 2021. Today, they work with just over 150 producers, mainly in Occitanie, from whom they buy fruits and vegetables that do not fit into traditional distribution channels.

On their site, subscribers, around 2,000 today, choose the size of their basket for prices ranging from 10 to 25 euros, which they collect from relay points (80 in Montpellier, editor's note) near their homes. The subscription is without commitment and tailor-made, and you only pay for what has been delivered. “With these baskets, we no longer need to worry about shopping and we consume fresh and seasonal French products, good for health and good for the planet“, explains Anaïs Lacombe.

A good idea always making “little ones”, PimpUp has also since set up in Toulouse, Montauban, Nîmes and Marseille recently. Their goal ? "Save 1 million tons of products destined for food waste. To date, we have saved more than 400 tons. To reach the million mark, we will have to develop even more nationally, but also internationally." Banco !

Saturday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Opening Pitch "Agriculture". Speakers: Anaïs Lacombe, co-founder PimPup; Pascal Thomas, president Futura Gaïa Technologies; and the company Elicir.