they want to relocate the production of footballs to Marseille
A couple from Marseille have embarked on a crazy project. Relocate to France the manufacture of soccer balls, normally produced in Asia. Their promise: a responsible, durable and repairable product.
“I like to play soccer with my friends. I’ve always had several soccer balls in my garage.”
Like many Marseilles, Jean-Baptiste de Touris likes to kick the ball when he has the opportunity. But with his wife, Agathe Delouvrier, when they look for a ball brand made in France, he comes up empty.
They then begin to learn about the way in which the round balls sold on the market are not made. “We discovered that it is 100% plastic, made in Asia by people paid below the subsistence minimum. 40% of the profits donated to the brands.”
They also become aware of the extent of the waste generated by their favorite hobby. “60 million balloons are sold each year, explains Jean-Baptiste. On average, a soccer ball is used for only one year. And they are non-repairable and non-recoverable.”
The couple, who work in professional integration, therefore decided to launch Vista, a start-up that buys its own responsible and sustainable balloons. “We wanted a recycled leather ball, hand-sewn so that it could be easily repaired, by employing people who were out of work.”
Jean-Baptiste and Agathe come up against several obstacles. First the question of materials. There is no longer a leather recovery sector in France. And then, the know-how, which has been completely lost.
It was in Kenya that the couple finally found the production model that suited them. “Alive and Kicking”, an NGO that employs a hundred people to make balloons by hand.
“They invented the first ball made with second-hand materials“rejoices Jean-Baptiste. On site, he trained in leather goods. “Hand sewing is the strongest, but it requires three hours of work per balloon. You have to learn the hand”.
The Kenyan NGO becomes Vista’s partner. “We realized that if we wanted to manufacture everything in France, we would have to market each ball at the price of a hundred euros.”
“Alive and kicking” is therefore in charge of the first part of making the ball. Closing is done by hand in Marseille, in the Vista workshops.
The start-up hired its first employee, Hourik, who was a shoemaker in his home country of Syria. It must ensure the manufacture of 5,000 balloons this year.
Marketing has already started with the launch of a crowdfunding campaign. The balloons are on sale at a price of 30 euros for the small models for children.
The standard models, adapted to international standards and accompanied by a repair guarantee, are sold for 45 euros.
This is much more than loss leaders from large distributors. This is the cost of ecological and social responsibility reminds Jean-Baptiste. “Our first customers are parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, who want to give a gift to a child that corresponds to their values”.
The campaign is a great success. More than 300 balls have already been sold, when the Vista team was counting on a hundred presales. This is still far from the profitability threshold of the company, which Jean-Baptiste estimates at 10,000 balloons sold each year.
A figure that suggests to the couple of entrepreneurs to further push the social and ecological approach: recruit 3 employees in insertion… And perhaps in the long term relocate all of the production to Marseille.