Jean-Baptiste, founder of Ispiri, wants to bring consumers to the farm. By creating boutiques selling artisanal products on farms, he aims to showcase the work of farmers. To consolidate his project, he drew on the Tremplin program at Hectar, and was able to challenge his business plan and find solutions to adapt to farmers' needs.
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Who are you?
My name is Jean-Baptiste Le Brun, I'm 30 years old, and I've been working for just over 10 years in the food service and retail sectors, particularly in point-of-sale design and team management. I'm passionate about local produce and craftsmanship, and like to know how the products we eat every day are made. In my previous jobs, I was frustrated because I felt I wasn't having any impact, I wasn't managing to infuse this passion as much as I'd like into my work, so I decided to go it alone, which I did by creating Ispiri in January 2023.
What's your project?
I started thinking about Ispiri at the end of 2022. At the time, I only wanted to open local stores in short circuits, but thanks to Hectar, we transformed the project to have more impact and be more innovative. Today, with Ispiri, I want to set up stores selling farm produce directly to farmers. I pay them rent and open a store on their premises. Being a farmer is a job in its own right, and it keeps you busy enough, just like being a shopkeeper. It's difficult to do both, so I wanted to provide a solution that would enable them to showcase their products and diversify their income without having to add to their workload. It also attracts consumers to farms, where the food they eat is produced, and where they can understand where their food comes from.
Why did you do the Tremplin program at Hectar?
I took part in Tremplin to discover the world of agriculture and become part of an entrepreneurial approach, while challenging myself and my project.
When I came up with the idea for Ispiri, I started criss-crossing France, and as I travelled I realized that I knew very little about the agricultural world. So I joined Tremplin to keep a modern mindset, but also to meet farmers, experts... and to get a first approach to what agricultural entrepreneurship is all about by understanding the challenges of the sector. Since January, I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of farmers from different backgrounds, some of them very aware of digital issues and sales to individuals, others less so... Hectar's advantage has been to define a target audience: people who had changed careers and worked in other sectors at the start of their careers, who had therefore developed reflexes and a mindset conducive to entrepreneurship, who were open to new projects and capable of giving me constructive, tangible feedback on my project, not feelings. With Hectar, we did something very pragmatic, we gave me the keys to get the information I needed.
What obstacles did you encounter when starting up your project?
If I'd found the perfect store quickly, I probably wouldn't have done Hectar, which would have been a shame! My biggest obstacle at the outset was real estate: rents in Île-de-France were identical to those in Paris, but didn't attract the same number of customers. I could see that the project wasn't breaking even, even though the bank, the town hall and everyone else was pushing me to rent. My P&L wasn't profitable for the effort I'd put into it. I told myself I hadn't found the right idea yet. It was by going to Hectar and talking to my mentor Nicolas Buisson, who challenged my idea enormously, that I was able to come up with a business plan that worked.
What's next for you?
At the moment, I'm in contact with 3 farms in the Paris region. I hope that by the end of the year the project will have come to fruition with the opening of a first store. My current target is the Paris region, but I'd like to expand into other regions. In terms of volume, I've set myself a maximum of 10 stores so as to stay small: for me, the future of entrepreneurship lies in small stores multiplying in place of a few giants that occupy the entire market.
How were you received by the farmers when you presented your project to them?
The farmers I used to talk to before Hectar were very clear-cut. Some were very enthusiastic and willing to commit immediately, while others immediately said no, that they weren't interested; it was almost an emotional response. The farmers I met at Hectar all found the idea interesting and necessary, which reinforced my project, and at the same time they challenged my ideas on very precise technical and operational points. I learned a lot from them.
Coming from a non-agricultural background, how did you perceive the sector when you started working in it?
The thing that surprised me most was that I was asked this question so much! In the restaurant business, it's never asked. When you're a chef, you're never asked if you have family in the trade, even though it's a highly codified sector, with difficult working hours, in a fairly closed environment where you get to know each other very quickly. But unlike the agricultural sector, the food service industry has this ability to welcome and attract talent.
My grandfather was a farmer, and I come from Finistère, which is a very agricultural region, so I may know a little more than an urbanite who hasn't experienced rural life, but today, the challenge of generational renewal is such that we can't rely solely on the sons and daughters of farmers. It's the only sector where we're asking ourselves this question, like a password to get into the business. We need to reverse this trend, all together, and open the doors wide. That's why I created Ispiri. If we make it easier for the public to visit farms, it could change stereotypes, create vocations... Consumers need to go to farms!
The Tremplin training program is supported by Sycomore Asset Management and Aigle.
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