The place we wanted to shop at didn’t exist, so we thought : Why not create our own supermarket all by ourselves? Not a little boutique… But a full-blown supermarket. We can do it.

Who are “we” ?

1) Humble residents from the Paris area who believe that they can do a better job creating a place to buy food that reflects their ideals in terms of quality, agriculture and commerce.

2) You, we hope.

A little history :

2010 : Tom and Brian, two American gourmets in Paris, both very sensitive to the quality and price of the food they eat, decide to start a kind of crazy project, “La Louve”. The concept is a new one in France: a food coop inspired and supported by the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn (a very dynamic Coop with over 16,000 members).

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See a short movie presenting it here:

Spring 2011 : Talking up their project here and there, many people with the same concerns about the food they eat join them in the two following years. That’s when they start the buying club and association called “Les Amis de la Louve”, whose goal is the creation of a big collaborative supermarket called “La Louve”. (“Louve” means “she-wolf”. A terrible name for a supermarket in English, but very pretty to say and hear in French!)

2012-2013 : The project keeps growing, wolf packs start to be organized, and la Louve gets more and more support, most importantly from the City of Paris and the 18th “arrondissement”.

December 2013 : The Buying club will move from the suburb of Bagnolet to its new location in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, the neighborhood of our future supermarket.

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Our principles :

Ensuring the great quality of products selected with very high standards in terms of taste, nutrition and freshness, La Louve supports farmers and producers engaged in environmentally responsible, ethical practices.

A non-profit association, la Louve seeks transparency in all its actions : purchasing, sales, management and administration. It is managed and governed by its members who are responsible for providing the volunteer labor (with the help of a few salaried employees) for all the daily tasks necessary for the smooth running of the supermarket.

Concretely, this means that all members have to work 3 hours every 3 months for the buying club, and 2h45mins every 4 weeks as soon as the supermarket opens (See our FAQ).

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This model based on volunteer labor allows us to have low margins— and hence very reasonable prices on food for our members— while at the same time paying a fair price to our farmers and producers. The idea of eating better, for less money, while respecting both producers and the environment has a universal appeal. This is why La Louve is committed to making the its collaborative supermarket accessible to all. One of our top priorities is to meet the diverse culinary needs of our immediate neighborhood… and beyond.

La Louve will also be :

- a place to learn about current food-related issues

- a place to exchange and share over good food

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Some of our Helpers :

Our sourcing committee is constantly searching for new products, visiting farms, meeting producers, and receiving the advice of different experts. We would particularly like to thank Antoine Jacobsohn, the head of the famous "Potager du Roi" at Versailles (The French national "Ivy League" school for gardening) who directs them to the greatest local fruit and vegetable producers and Xavier Thuret, named by the French government as the best cheesemonger in France ("Meilleur Ouvrier de France"). And for wines, our expert is none other than Tom Boothe, long-time wine buyer in the US and co-founder of la Louve.

This assembly of an “advisory board” is just beginning. Many other ‘experts’ in other domains will soon be joining us.

Le Supermarché Collaboratif de la Louve

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