The market for anti-waste applications - France (2023)

1.2 A dynamic national market

It's very difficult to establish total sales figures for the anti-waste applications market in France. As the players are almost exclusively start-ups, their financial data is not necessarily published, and some relatively important players in terms of user numbers do not yet have significant sales.

As a result, it is possible to estimate the size of the market by adding up the available sales figures, which are mainly those of the biggest applications.

Phénix: ** million euros, including *.* million for the B*B application (***) Too Good To Go: * million euros (***) Comerso: * million euros (***) Optimiam: **,*** euros (***)[***]

It's worth noting that Phénix doesn't operate solely as a B*C platform. **% of its sales come from B*B activities, recovering unsold goods from manufacturers and passing them on to grocery stores and social associations. Its intermediary activity is profitable thanks to the commission it deducts from the savings made by professionals. They save on waste management and benefit from a tax reduction on their in-kind donations to associations. [***]

Thus, the French market for anti-waste applications is worth a minimum of ** million euros. It also seems logical to assume that all the remaining players do not generate cumulative sales in excess of ** million euros. ...

2.1 A growing desire on the part of the French to take action against waste

are you sensitive to food waste? France, ****, in Source: ****

French consumers are increasingly concerned by the issues of food loss and waste. In fact, **% of them say they are sensitive to the issue. This civic commitment is creating fertile ground for demand for anti-waste applications.

Have you ever shopped using a mobile app that allows you to pick up unsold food at the supermarket or bakery? France, ****, in % Source: ****

**% of consumers say they have already used an anti-waste app, and a further **% would like to try it out.

Taking the assumptions below, we can estimate that there are over ** million potential users of anti-waste apps. The potential is even greater, since the proportion of people not interested in these applications is likely to decrease as ecological awareness grows among the French population.

Assumptions:

Only the over-**s consume, and according to INSEE, there will be ** million of them in France in **** (***) **% of consumers are interested in anti-waste applications (***)

Calculation: Potential market = A x B = **,***,*** x *.** = **,***,***

French opinion on the responsibility of the various players in the fight against food waste France, ****, in Source: ****

According to French consumers, citizens are the players best placed to combat food waste by taking appropriate ...

2.2 Network coverage as a demand driver

Network coverage and Internet penetration rates in France are indicators of market development.

Indeed, a good connection to the *G (***) network is often necessary for a mobile application to function fully. For example, to geolocate users when they are looking for restaurants with surplus food.

*G coverage in France

Source: ****

The "diagonal of emptiness" stands out on this map, with locations less well served by *G than other regions in France. So, while coverage is fairly good across France, there remains real potential for growth in market volume as applications become available in previously digitally isolated areas.

2.3 Consumers' favorite anti-waste apps

Which anti-waste mobile apps do you know? France, ****, in Source: ****

Too Good To Go is far better known than the other apps, with **% of consumers surveyed saying they were familiar with the startup. Zéro-Gâchis and Dans mon frigo take second and third place respectively, ahead of a number of apps that are little known to the French.

Apps that enable consumers to buy baskets at bargain prices seem to be particularly popular, since two such apps are the best known to the general public. It may also be argued that the "First Mover Advantage" is particularly strong in this market, with users having little interest in downloading several apps if the one they already own offers them a wide choice of cheap baskets.

However, apps that help consumers better manage their expiration dates could gain notoriety in the future, as they offer a simple and useful service, but are not very well known at the moment. Dans mon frigo, the app with the highest awareness, is cited by only *% of respondents.

3.1 The gigantic amount of food wastage at the origin of the anti-waste offer

Distribution of use of food produced World, ****, in Source: ****

**% of food produced worldwide is thrown away. The enormous ecological impact of this phenomenon means that if food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of CO* worldwide, behind China and the USA.

In France, food waste represents **kg per year per inhabitant, a total value of ** billion euros per year and the equivalent of **.* million tonnes of CO*.

Breakdown of meal consumption France, ****, in % Source: ****

Share of losses and waste France, ****, in % Source: ****

While the catering industry accounts for only **% of French meals, it is responsible for **% of food waste. So it's logical that the first anti-waste applications to emerge have focused on this market segment. Indeed, they were able to put players with large quantities to supply in touch with private individuals looking for quality food at low prices.

Food loss and waste - Home consumption France, ****, in % Source: ****

The Ademe study shows that vegetables account for the bulk of food waste in France (***). Conversely, and rather logically, canned goods, beverages and dry products, which can be stored for longer periods, account for only a small proportion of French household waste.

Breakdown of loss and ...

3.2 Structure of the application software publishing business

The data below is provided by INSEE under NAF code **.**C "Edition de logiciels applicatifs", which includes software for professional or domestic use, such as office applications and project management. This includes the anti-waste applications business.

Number of establishments and employees in application software publishing

establishments under code **.**C France, ****-**** Source: ****

Workforce under code **.**C France, ****-**** Source: ****

The software publishing sector is booming, with a combined increase in the number of establishments and employees. In ****, the corresponding NAF code recorded **** establishments and ***** employees, representing growth of **% and **% respectively over the ****-**** period. So, not only are there more and more software publishing companies in France, but these companies are also increasingly important in terms of the number of employees.

Geographical breakdown of application software companies

Source: ****

Nearly half of all application software publishers are concentrated in the Île-de-France region. The two other main regions active in this field are Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie, with ** and **% of registered establishments respectively.

Sales structure of software publishers

In ****, sales by French software publishers were divided almost equally between three activities:

Sales of products and licenses (***) Support and maintenance (***) Software as a Service (***). This last item has nevertheless seen strong growth in recent ...

3.3 One distribution network, two "blinds

there are two main application stores for smartphones, which share the market:

Apple's App Store Android's Play Store (***)

This duopoly means that applications that are developed and want to be distributed to consumers must go through both platforms, or at least one of them. Even Huawei, a Chinese phone manufacturer, used Google Play until recently.

Number of French apps appearing in the top *** downloads on Apple Store and Google Play store France, April ****, in units Source: ****

The number of apps downloaded (***) by users is far greater on the Apple Store, but the revenue generated by mobile apps is greater on Google Play according to Deloitte.

Breakdown of app revenues on the Apple Store France, ****, in % Source: ****

Revenues generated by both platforms concern "cooking and drinking" apps are most certainly included in the "Other" category, which accounts for **% of app revenues on the App Store.

Source: ****

The ranking above shows the ratings and number of reviews for various apps on the App Store and Google Play. Too Good To Go is the top-ranked app, with a very high average rating of *.* / *. Phénix, Frigo Magic and KitchenPal also score well, with averages of *.*, *.* and *.* respectively. Finally, OptiMiam is far behind, with an ...

3.4 A closer look at the success of Too Good To Go

In just four years, Too Good To Go is already present in ** European countries and the United States, and employs over *** people. In France, *.* million users have already ordered a surprise basket, and **,*** retailers are now partners of the application. In all, **.* million meals have been saved from waste by the Danish startup.

The company's directors describe it as a community that fights food waste through a mobile application that connects users with merchants. By activating the geolocation functions, consumers can pick up a "surprise basket" at the end of the day, made up of the day's unsold produce from partner stores located around them.

The user community is globally active, with an estimated **% buying a basket at least once a month. The products are worth three times more than the amount paid by the consumer, and the startup takes a commission of €*.** per basket.

The app's partners represent a variety of food horizons, with bakeries, patisseries, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets. A number of prestique partnerships have also been forged, such as the one with La Maison du Chocolat, which saved *,*** high-end baskets in its first three months.

In addition to its matchmaking service between individuals and catering companies, Too Good ...

4.1 Typology of anti-waste applications

In-store savings applications

Too Good To Go has developed partnerships with numerous shops, supermarkets and restaurants to offer surprise baskets to its users. It is also possible to make a financial donation to offer a basket to a homeless person. The startup goes beyond the food sector with the addition of florists on to good to go.

Comerso accelerates and facilitates companies' zero-waste transition

Zéro-Gâchis finds discounts in local stores on all kinds of products nearing their sell-by date.

Optimiam recovers unsold products from restaurants such as Big Fernand, Pomme de Pain, Franprix...

Phenix offers baskets of the day's unsold products at knock-down prices.

Karma offers a choice of discounted products "to be sure that the products will be well consumed" and avoid the risk of non-consumption if the consumer doesn't like what they receive in their surprise basket.

Applications to avoid throwing away

A consommer is a refrigerator management application.

Checkfood lets you scan a product's barcode to receive a notification when the product is nearing its expiration date.

Applications providing recipe ideas

Frigo Magic suggests recipes based on the user's desires, the food available and the number of people present, to avoid unnecessary waste.

Save Eat helps ...

4.2 Great untapped potential for the development of new applications

The main mechanisms of food loss and waste and related applications

Source: ****

The diagram above shows the main mechanisms of food loss and waste by stage in the value chain. The current positioning of the various applications on the market has also been added to this diagram.

The main finding is that waste from the consumption activity is well addressed by a large number of applications. However, many levers remain unexploited in other activities. In distribution, a shelf management application could greatly help retailers to avoid wastage, particularly of fresh produce. On the processing side, everything remains to be done, and in particular the ability of manufacturers to propose new recipes not originally planned, in order to adapt to the quantities of raw materials at their disposal. Lastly, Solaal is the only application to tackle waste at the level of farmers' production, by putting them in touch with food associations. However, there are still a number of untapped levers, notably in terms of adding value to agricultural produce that fails to pass the appearance, size and shape sorting.

4.3 The most visible anti-waste applications

The SimilarWeb tool tracks the number of visits to a website over the past six months.

SimilarWeb comparison of the main anti-waste applications France, ****, in thousands of visits Source: ****

Among the players in the anti-waste app market, only two have enough visits to be listed on SimilarWeb. These are Too Good To Go and SaveEat. After being in second place in terms of number of visits in April and May (***), Too Good To Go then overtook SaveEat with continuous growth in the number of visits over the last six months.

Market analysis is limited by the lack of available data, which is mainly due to the very small size of the majority of players in the sector.

5.1 The French regulatory framework on waste

The **** Garot anti-food-waste law obliges large and medium-sized retailers (***) to offer a donation agreement to associations for the take-back of their unsold food that is still consumable. This rule is in addition to the tax incentive linked to the Coluche scheme of ****, granting a **% tax exemption to distributors and manufacturers practicing food donation as a substitute for waste production.

From July *, ****, customers will be able to leave restaurants with their "doggy bag". This bag allows customers to take home the leftovers from their uneaten meal. Containers must be reusable or recyclable.

Article *** of the **** law on energy transition for green growth prohibits the imposition of expiration dates on certain products such as sugar, salt, vinegar, honey, olive oil or chewing gum. [***]

Through the National Pact to Combat Food Waste, France has committed to halving food waste by ****. As part of this, a law has been passed (***) defining a range of measures to reduce and manage this waste, mainly in distribution.[***]

The Pacte national de lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire is made up of ** measures targeting the various levels of the agri-food value chain:

Measure *: Participate in the work of the National Pact to Combat Food Waste Measure *: Collaborate with government departments ...

5.2 Supervision and management of user data

The developer of the application, or the entity that owns it, must comply with the general rules concerning application distribution, detailed on the website of Murielle Cahen, lawyer. The site details the following elements:

Legal notices to be respected The need to adapt general conditions of use Personal data processing and user information Liability of publishers engaged in e-commerce activities

6.1 Segmentation of players in the French anti-waste applications industry

• Phénix Conseils
• Too Good To Go France
• Comerso
• Optimiam
• Sauve Ton Resto - Lakooz
• NoWaste
• WeNow
• Melba
• Les Alchimistes
• Yuka
• Frigo Magic
• Olio