Food waste: Luxembourg high school students launch the Leftlovers app

Elie Bertrand, 18, launched Leftlovers with four classmates, all students at the Lycée Aline-Mayrisch in the capital. They entered their initiative in the Mini-Entreprises competition run by Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg, but the young men have every intention of seeing their project turn into a real business.

How does Leftlovers work? Users of the Danish application Too Good To Go, which has been operating in France since 2016, will certainly recognise the principle.

Every day, partner retailers make available on the platform a set number of anti-waste baskets made up of the day’s unsold produce. “We have chosen three price ranges: €5.99, €10.99 and €15.99. In each basket, the commercial value of the products is equal to at least twice the price paid by the user”, explains co-founder Liam Bahbout.

Once they have paid for their purchase online, consumers visit the retailer at the end of the day to collect their basket, the contents of which may be known in advance, or a surprise. “For the retailer, the initiative not only saves the day’s unsold goods, but also reaches out to new customers and introduces them to products that are perhaps less popular,” says Bertrand. Customers can then rate the retailer on the platform.

Leftlovers is designed to be easy to use for consumers, but also for retailers, so that they don’t have to do too much extra work. “All the partner retailers have to do is tell us how many bags they have committed to offering each day. At the end of the day, all they have to do is fill the [bag] and check the customer’s confirmation email before handing over the basket, which has an allergen sticker on it”, explains Bahbout.

From school option to real business

The idea had been in the back of his mind for two years. “Two years ago, I worked for the Chambelland bakery, and we had discussions with my manager to see what we could do to combat food waste. I was really sick to my stomach when I saw how much was being thrown away”, says Bertrand. The pupil then decided to bring his idea to school.

The presentation in front of a dozen students and a teacher had an impact: four classmates decided to join the project. “We decided to take part in the Jonk Entrepreneuren competition, which enables us to get help in setting up our business. We were supported in setting up our business, but also benefited from visibility coaching”, continues Bertrand.

“I didn’t want to do an [optional class] that wouldn’t have done me any good, like yoga,” says Bahbout, who joined his classmate in creating the project. In just a few months, the students claim to have become better at managing their time, learned to work better in groups, and developed their computer skills.

But the ambition of these young Luxembourgers is not to stop there. “Our goal is to bring the project to fruition by setting up a limited company by September”. For the time being, Leftlovers is an optional class for the high school students, but they all hope to be able to get involved in this entrepreneurial project when they leave school.

Elie Bertrand and Liam Bahbout founded Leftlovers with three other classmates.  © Photo credit: Virgule.lu

Restaurants, producers, markets…

The young founders have already succeeded in convincing a number of businesses to join the venture, including Cocottes, the Chambellan bakery and the Italian restaurant Silento. “We went out and met a large number of retailers to see if there was any demand for the project. 90% of them were interested, particularly the small traders, because there is a real financial interest for them”, Bertrand points out.

For the moment, the partner businesses are all located in Luxembourg City and Belval. But by September, the founders of Leftlovers aim to have at least one business in each of Luxembourg’s 12 cantons. “We really want to develop the local aspect of the project, by also listing farmers, markets and florists,” say the students.

The ‘Made in Luxembourg’ aspect is the very essence of the project. “Nobody considers the Luxembourg market. That’s what prompted us to propose a local initiative. In fact, the site was developed by Wide Andco, a Luxembourg company that employs women undergoing retraining”, explains Bertrand.

Fighting for the planet and against poverty

With their project, the young entrepreneurs hope to raise awareness in Luxembourg of the need to combat food waste. “The Grand Duchy is one of the biggest producers of waste in Europe, and is also one of the first countries to reach the deadline. It’s a subject that directly concerns our future”, Bahbout insists.

At the same time, poverty is increasing in the country, making the initiative doubly relevant. “Eventually, we also want to develop the option of being able to buy a bag with the aim of donating it to an NGO”, add the students, who have no shortage of ideas for growing Leftlovers.

(This article was first published by Virgule. Translation, adaptation and editing by Lucrezia Reale.)