Problem addressed

The project addresses three key issues: helping people with few or no qualifications to return to work; producing organic bakery products for groups who have had little or no access to them until now; and supporting the local organic farming sector (with a focus on short supply chains).

Innovative solution

Bou’Sol supports projects to set up organic social enterprise bakeries and coordinates the network thus formed. Bou’Sol provides a full range of services to the bakeries: establishing and developing local supply chains; developing specific tools for the operational management of social enterprise bakeries; creating communication tools; and implementing initiatives to develop new market opportunities for the bakeries.

What sets Bou’Sol apart is:

• the way the bread is made, based on traditional baking methods using additive-free organic flour, with a focus on quality, health and nutrition
• its alignment with public policies: the Grenelle II Environment Forum, socially responsible procurement, the ‘Ambition Bio 2017’ initiative, and the National Nutrition and Health Plan
• its collective organisational structure, designed to foster autonomy, the involvement of various stakeholders in governance, and solidarity amongst its members.

Potential for mainstreaming

To date, five community bakeries have been set up based on the model devised by Bou’Sol (Lyon, Marseille (two bakeries), Montpellier and Calais).

Bou'Sol is a laureate of the 2017–2018 cohort of the P'INS scale-up support programme, jointly run by Fondation Macif and Avise.