With the revival of organic agriculture in France ( in 2009, almost 84% of the French people thought that organic agriculture was spreading in France), a new quality label, Bio Coherence, was created on April 12th, to replace the old label Alternative Bio. This is a way of entering in a new era and clearly answering the expectations of the French people.
Under hospices of the National Federation of Organic Agriculture, the Biocoop shops, Biomonde and the wholesaler Bio Prionatura, the goal of Bio Coherence is to offer “a new trademark of organic products, directly from commited producers to consumers” therefore encouraging “ an organic agriculture respectful of the environmental, social and financial balance”, says Dominique Techer, a winegrower, president of the organization and member of the Federation .

The goal of this organization is to spread only 100% organic agriculture, totally rejecting GMO, and with limitations regarding antibiotics, among other things. This trademark aims for more transparency but also recognition and being as effective as Le Bourgeon in Switzerland or Soil Association in UK. The first results will be revealed in 2011 after the launching of the first product at the beginning of the year.
http://www.biocoherence.fr/

My Sweet Bio was only at first a website dedicated to babies and their mothers. Now it’s also a concept store selling clothes, furnitures and green friendly accessories.
Created by Camille Fleck, this eco responsible concept store offers ethical fashion brands such as La Queue du Chat, evolving furnitures from the brand Stokke, and even a My Sweet Bio line with household linen and washable diapers made in hemp and matching the clothes.
Mothers to be can also come and relax in the treatment room reserved for them in the shop.
Finally, my Sweet Bio organizes workshops to teach about massages for babies or about the best way to carry them to feel closest to them!

Open every day except Sunday, from 10h30 AM

My Sweet Bio

8, rue de l’Odéon
75006 Paris
T. : +33.(0)1.43.26.39.60
www.mysweetbio.fr

The 12th district of Paris is getting more and more trendy, and the opening of a green friendly grocery store, boho and trendy : Pimlico illustrates that tendency. Two friends, Charles Baillet and Olivier de Buhren, have decided to introduce organic fruits and vegetables, as well as gluten free and salt free products in our daily lives. They succeded, and Pimlico attracts tourists as well as Parisians who go there for grocery shopping. At Pimlico, being green friendly means being trendy. The store looks like a show room of modern furniture with wood and metal everywhere. The must? To have a bag of organic groceries delivered at home or at work.

Open from Monday through Saturday from 6h30 am to 8h30 pm.

Pimlico
88, rue de Charenton
75012 Paris
France
T. : +33.(0)1.44.75.51.96
www.pimlico.fr

Bio2Baby was launched by 2 mothers motivated by the same commitment: to teach their kids to respect their environment and the “real values” of life. The arrival of a baby is a time to question ourselves and to change our habits. A mother wants to protect her child and give him only what’s best in terms of food, clothing and toys, and that’s when the words “ethical” and “responsible ecology” take a whole new meaning. The website www.bio2baby.fr offers a large variety of green friendly and organic products to mothers, like breastfeeding products, milk bottles, blankets ,soft toys, as well as cloth diapers, products for the bedroom and child safely products. They cover the needs of children from birth to 3 years old. Bio2Baby is bound to make you and your baby happy!

The goal is to offer the largest possible variety of green products designed for children, but also to support charities. The money collected through wrapping paper (printed on green friendly material, using a green friendly process) is directly donated to a charity called “the Healing Laughter”, who works with hospitalized young children, trying to entertain them.

Finally, they offer us a preview on the clothing line of the American Brand Kissy Kissy. Designed in Peru and made of organic cotton, those clothes are soft and top of the range.

www.bio2baby.fr

1/ Let’s talk about your concept. How did you came up with the idea of creating a website for green hotels only ?
William Rousseau: By creating Biolodging I combined my passion for hotel business, my love of nature (I come from a family of farmers who turned to organic production 20 years ago) and my awareness regarding environmental issues. Before, when I was working as the manager for International Development Business at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, I also noted that the customers need weren’t met, and the offer wasn’t structured.When I saw that, started Biolodging

2/ Is Bilodging a label, or a collection ?
William Rousseau: Biolodging is not a label, its purpose is to gather the independent establishments registered by focusing on their initiatives and by centralizing the offers of green trips for customers. Nevertheless, it’s true that most establishments have a green label (European Green Label, Green Key, or Green Globe), which makes their initiatives even more efficient. You could say that Biolodging is a “network” of green hotels, with deep convictions about ecology. Together, they can make a more powerful statement. They are stronger as a network than isolated.

3/ What do you look for in a hotel to be part of Biolodging ?
William Rousseau: I have spent a great deal of time thinking about how to select hotels. It took almost a year, by questionning people in that business, with the help of experts in sustainable development. Since our intent was not to become yet another label, and since we were not legitimate to do so, we made a list of   30 requirements, with the travelers as our n° 1 priority.
It’s the result of those studies on the field that gave us ground to make this list (based on 3 things : ecology, well being, and the human factor) With that list we can not only select, but also evaluate the initiatives of each hotel in a positive and accessible way.

4/ Biolodging is also a blog . What do you talk about in it? What’s it’s purpose?
William Rousseau: This blog has been on line for almost a year now, and we talk about issues linked with “sustainable location” (how to handle it in a good way,   the construction techniques, the labels, the technology, the common sense…)but also about the latest news regarding this issue. Our targets are the hotel managers and also the general public, because everybody is interested in those issues…

5/ For now,  Biolodging is only present in France. Do you plan to expand in Europe and on an international level?
William Rousseau: Yes, we started last March with a selection of 23 “green boutique hotels” in France. We have 30 now, and I am really happy to see new candidates showing up regularly. Right from the beginning, I had international ambitions for Biolodging, (as its name indicates). Expand in Europe is our next step, but I try to stay realistic because you have to manage your original market really well before trying to expand. But I already received request from Italians, Canadians and from Marroco… It’s very encouraging.

Gavarni Hotel: Do you have the same vision of green tourism as Hotel Gavarni? Why this partnership?
Sophie Millet: Green Tourism takes many different  forms: sustainable development, eco tourism, responsible tourism, ethical, solidarity-based…
The goal of Voyage Vert is to help people discover France in a responsible way, all this time adapting to people and meeting their needs and desires. Green tourism suffers now of a snobbish image that is totally inadequate   : everybody can travel  in a responsible way, it’s either expensive nor boring. Travelling in a responsible way doesn’t necessarily means living in a hut, observing insects in a forest, or taking a sabbatical   to visit Mali walking.
Travelling in an eco friendly way can  mean taking the train from Paris to go spend the week end in the chateaux de la Loire that includes biking, flying in an hotel air balloon, visiting the castles and drinking champagne!
From  that  perspective, Voyage Vert and Hotel Gavarni have the same conception of green tourism: the first goal is to offer a service which benefits first to the client and second to the planet .

Gavarni Hotel:What are your assets to be attractive to the travelers, considering the appeal of cheap mass tourism?
Sophie Millet: - The price  : In France, green hotels and transports are not more expensive than others, and neither is Voyage Vert!
And compared to other offers from the poorest countries? Let me give you an exemple : a cheap stay in Tunisia is sold 600€ for 2 persons. For the same price, including the advise of our travel agents, Voyage Vert offers you one week for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children), half board, in a 3 stars cottage with swimming pool, in high season, in a beautiful region of France.
- The service : You have one travel agent dedicated only to you, who makes you an offer within your budget, adapted to your desires, free of charge and without commitment. If you are not happy with our offer , we make you a second one, and you don’t have to leave your house. It’s hard to resist that!
- The  accountability  : The client pays Voyage Vert for the offer, and then pays directly his travel to the selected providers. No middlemen, no commission, and very good deals because the providers can offer discounts to the clients of Voyage Vert.

Gavarni Hotel: What kind of trips do you offer? Do you have a specific target?(couples, families, seniors, upper class…)
Sophie Millet: Our basic offer   the search of service :housing, transportation, leisure. Combined together, those services make a trip.
Beyond those personalized offers, our services are based on values like respect for the environment, for example a week end  that includes flying in an hot air balloon, or one week in a hotel with a fine dining restaurant, or more complex offers based on a network of partners (travel agencies, eco friendly leisures, visits…).
Those offers can be for one person, as well as a family of five, or even groups.
Of course our first target are internet users : the advantage with us is that you can make your reservation directly through the web without living your house. But among all internet users, those who contact us the most are couples or families who wants their travels to be unique, genuine and   to discover new things.

Gavarni Hotel: So responsible tourism is really less expensive than the low cost agencies currently on the market?
Sophie Millet: You cannot seriously compare the price of cheap ham in a discount supermarket with the price of the slices of ham coming from a small eco friendly provider. Of course it’s still very cheap to visit Egypt with some big low cost providers, but they don’t have cheap offers to travel in France. Low cost travelling in France means starting preparing your trip very early on and staying in a rural holiday cottage, and I can guaranty you that the prices of eco friendly cottages are competitive.
So yes, responsible tourism in France is less expensive than low cost travel in a poor country
Anyway if you want to travel in a Third World country and stay on the beach drinking mojitos during your vacation, the cheapest offer is the low cost package. But do you really prefer to eat cheap ham full of conservatives?

Gavarni Hotel: What are your plans for 2010/2011?
Sophie Millet: The concept of Voyage Vert in France is unique and a big success. We have very positive feed back from our first clients so far, but we are still a very young company, so our goal for 2010/2011 is to be known by a large number of people. When you come on the market with a new and innovative concept, you have to work hard on communication and marketing.
So our immediate course of action is to focus on communication and to work with the other market   players, especially in Paris.

Voyage Vert website
Voyage Vert blog
Voyage Vert on Twitter
Voyage Vert on Facebook

On November 24th, we introduced Jean-Louis Lamy, who with his wife Patricia, has created Couleurs Bio one of the first organic online market places. Suppliers of Hotel Gavarni and therefore involved in the protection of the environment, Couleurs Bio is the foremost choice of a man and a woman concerned about the health of their little girl who decided to get engage in organic. Today, the couple who both work for the well being of the environment is in difficulty.
The legal transformation of their business in SARL or SAS, in order to meet development needed to sustain Couleurs Bio was refused by several banks (including their main bank Societe Generale). The cause? A lack of real estate assets to be mortgaged as collateral input. So when the government talks about recommendations for SMEs, Jean-Louis and Patricia laugh yellow, because these recommendations seem ineffective.
Today, they appeal to all those who wish to move from consumer to “consom’actor” providing financial assistance to Couleurs Bio. A legal transformation which will enable their company to respond to changing market for organic products and offer the same time, lower prices for consumers. This type of investment (a minimum of 500 €) creates exemptions and reductions of tax provided by law. Our support to real actors in the protection of the environment.

To know more (in French):
Legifrance.gouv.fr
Apce.com

To contact Jean-Louis Lamy :
couleursbio@gmail.com

1)Why did you decide to create a green company of transportation?
My four partners and I are part of the generation that has realized the importance of issues related to climate change. Transportation is, moreover, one of the main sources of carbone emissions in France, taking account of environmental issues has become very clear. We have therefore decided to build our fleet of vehicles exclusively from 3 Toyota Prius hybrid (89 g / km CO2), to train our drivers in the techniques of eco-driving and offsetting all our greenhouse emissions. These choices give us the certainty to minimize the impact of our activities on the environment and enable our customers to register their travel in a sustainable development approach.

2) How are you different from “traditional” taxi?
First, we differentiate ourselves by this commitment to the environment. Although the main Parisian taxi companies have hybrid vehicles in their fleets, an initiative that we welcome and we also encourage, they can train all their drivers to an eco-driving and offset all emissions generated by their vehicles. Thus, only our company can claim to be totally neutral environment.
Then, we have taken great care to quality of service provided. Our drivers adhere to a behavioral charter which requires them to accommodate the customer, handle your luggage or to master conversational English. In addition, all our vehicles offer unprecedented services such as Wi-Fi broadband and television to allow passengers to work, learn or relax during the trip.
Finally, the last major difference is the price. Our rates are fixed, that is to say, announced at the time of booking and independent of the journey. The price of a race with NEOCAB is equivalent to that of a taxi booking.

3) Tell us about your meeting with Xavier Moraga, the Gavarni hotel manager.
We contacted Mr. Moraga just before the launch of our business. Like most people involved and interested in ecology, we heard about the Hotel Gavarni and measures the director had put in place to protect the environment. We were convinced that there is a link between this facility and our business, that conviction has since been verified since NEOCAB is now part of the sustainable development process of the hotel Gavarni ensuring taxi journeys to its customers.

4) Why join a hotel? Is it the only hotel you work with?
The main advantage of hotels for our business is that they can cause a number of important races and spread throughout the day (the application is not necessarily concentrated on peak hours). However, the hotel Gavarni is currently the only one with whom we work. Our service is indeed very influenced by the environmental dimension, it is thus logical that this element is part of a comprehensive facilities, and the number of green hotels in Paris is still limited …

5) You offer many services in your car. How do you manage to combine technology and ecology?
The various services we offer in our vehicles cause actual energy consumption, but this has little impact on our environmental footprint. First, the electric motor of the Toyota Prius 3 recharges automatically, which means it does not need extra energy. Moreover, our process of carbon offsetting naturally includes all of our activity, consumption of our cars in the extraction and refining of oil needed for their operations through our activity “in house” (headquarters , communication media, etc..). Finally, we think it’s time to stop associating ecology with compromise. It is quite possible to adopt responsible behavior on the environment without making sacrifices in comfort or prices, at least that is what NEOCAB defends and offers its customers.

How did you get the idea to create this organic online supermarket? What were your motivations?
Jean-Louis Lamy and his wife Patricia are the proud founders of Couleursbio.com, a website selling organic products, launched in October 2005. Having tasted organic food with friends and being convinced by the taste and quality of products on one hand, concerned about the health of their baby girl after the various industrial agriculture scandals on the other hand (pesticides, obesity, diabetes, hormones, dioxins …), they got on board in June 2005. Selling online has become very clear because of its lower cost of installation and management. His wife got seriously sick, until her complete healing Jean-Louis is alone. From Manche (« probably living near a plant and a nuclear reprocessing plant has encouraged my organic belief », he adds with a smile), Jean-Louis has had a varied course that has made him word in restaurants or even in the delivery of flowers.

Tell us about your partnership with Hotel Gavarni. What products do you provide it?
The idea of soliciting the hotels was part of the development strategy of Jean-Louis, but due to time constraints, he could not contact all the hotels that might have been interested. So is it the hotel, looking for a supplier of fresh fruits that can deliver twice a week for the realization of the fruit salad for breakfast, that called first. The collaboration started with fruits in June 2009 and has grown with eggs, cheese … To expand the range, Jean-Louis is always seeking producers, references, adequate packaging, systematically favoring the local and small production because he said « I can better monitor and respond to product quality ».

You take care of all the business by yourself (supply, marketing, website …). What is your secret?
“Indeed I do the administrative, accounting and controls, the website, deliveries … alone! My only secret is to sleep only 4 to 5 hours a night! ”

How do you see the future of organic, particularly in supermarkets?
The future of organic is necessarily conditioned by support and being proactive in its development in France and abroad as well as associating quality controls. Without political will and strong grants various incentives to farmers converting to organic, without reduction of intensive agriculture and its excesses, without reflection on the benefits of importing fruits, vegetables or food for animals from distant countries, without a strong response to GMOs, there is no bright future in the short term. Demand for fresh, seasonal, organic or at least managed and produced in accordance with nature produce is very strong (+ 25% increase in 2008), let’s just consider the unprecedented success of AMAP and other organic baskets delivered each week. Local production has the advantage of generating small pollution, promote links between the inhabitants and local producers to control costs and compensate fairly producers … It is a possible response to anxiety of small producers facing the enormous power of the purchasing power of large retailers and falling profits arising therefrom. Obviously it has something to say. The big names have sometimes lower prices for the organic, but what about where they’re from? If the AB label guarantees, a priori, the quality of products, some questions arise when it comes from other countries. Without casting stones at anyone, what about the « organic » potatoes from Egypt, mass produced, or acres of « organic » fruits and vegetables grown in greenhouses in Spain? How can we control the intensive production of hectares of fruits and vegetables with one annual visit and few inspectors available? For my part, I am extremely careful about the provenance of the products I sell and when I doubt, I avoid them. I have some wholesalers who do themselves laboratory tests when in doubt. I am not worried about fruits and vegetables, I know I’ll always be cheaper than retailers because my suppliers are local producers, but otherwise I ask myself questions. It is hoped that the Grenelle and the followers will finally look so serious on the French weakness in organic production (2% of the surface in France against 6% on average in Europe, 8% in Italy and even more 11% in Austria).
My greatest happiness is to see among my clients, child who has been once a large consumer of chocolate bars to jump on my organic fruit. This is my reward!

The tea supplier of Hotel Gavarni is first of all the story of one man, François Cambell, tea lover since childhood when he use to spend his pocket money in unique beverages. After a formative experience in parapharmaceutical laboratories Francois Cambell in 1997 decided to synthesize his knowledge and put it in use for the environment. He creates tLa Route des Comptoirs and begins to import organic tea in France. Forerunner, he realized tea is the most drunk beverage in the world and it deserves to be of high quality.
Ahead of his time, far from playing the chic tea time game that offer some great houses now-a-days, at the first Tea Fair Frade in 2000, he was the only one to think to sell tea to consumers, to explain him to “the difference” and not just make a simple representation of state.
Consumers are not misled, Francois Cambell offers a product at a crossroads, between concept of flavor diet and respectful of our environment.
Always looking for new mixes, giving free rein to his inspiration, he draws on plantations certified organic by Ecocert, where on-site certification survey, conducts inspections and monitors the production before giving the green light. Seamless traceability that the success of the company.

La Route des Comptoirs
41, rue Dautancourt
75017 Paris
France
T. : +33.1.42.26.34.34