Toulouse. Dark kitchens, dark stores: faced with the phenomenon of virtual shops, the Metropolis is raising the tone
By Guillaume Laurent
Published on
For once, a wish presented by the opposition was adopted unanimouslyall political groups combined, during the Council of Toulouse Metropolis which airs Thursday, June 23, 2022 at meeta Aussonne (Upper Garonne). Related to “the ambition of dark store and dark kitchen zero zones in the Metropolis of Toulouse”, this wish aims to curb the phenomenon of virtual shops, still in its infancy in the Pink City.
A “profound transformation of consumption habits”
In Toulouse, as elsewhere, local authorities can only observe “the new attraction for home delivery services”, in particular since the health crisis of 2020, which led to a “profound transformation of consumption habits”, write in unison the elected officials of the Metropolis.
“Startups have developed new concepts of ‘quick commerce’ or dark stores for the delivery of small groceries, and dark kitchens for the delivery of takeaway meals, based on new distribution formulas and ultra-fast deliveries, including between 10 and 20 minutes for everyday consumer and catering products”.
“Platforms that uberize whole sections of our society”
“Many cities in Europe are fighting against these platforms which uberize entire sections of our society,” observes Maxime LeTexier, Toulouse elected member of the Alternative group for a citizen metropolis (AMC), at the origin of this wish.
In their text, the elected officials judge that ” labor conditions “ employees and contractors” of these virtual businesses, “both in the kitchen and in delivery, are everywhere in Europe problematic, taking into account the delivery times imposed. These conditions induce both “a level of stress”, but also “risk-taking in the kitchen or on the delivery route carried out on two-wheelers”, without forgetting “a heavy workload in the evening and on weekends”. end, sometimes ignoring sufficient periods of rest”.
“These companies are based on the economic model of uberization, promote illegal work and precariousness, promote disempowerment vis-à-vis public authorities and residents, taking advantage of legal loopholes”.
A model that causes “multiple nuisances”
For the elected officials of Toulouse Métropole, these new activities use these “legal loopholes”, while their model “leads drifts and multiple nuisances on incoming deliveries by truck (lack of delivery spaces), the parking of delivery two-wheelers”, “noise nuisance for the neighborhood (with incessant comings and goings of two-wheeled deliveries)”, not to mention them “security issues” and “chaotic parking”, or even “garbage management” and others “odor nuisance”.
Take care of “urban aesthetics” and its commercial landscape
Metropolitan elected officials also agree on “the necessary protection of commercial lines and the necessary safeguard of urban aesthetics, even as the cities of the Metropolis are implementing ambitious policies to revitalize city centers and neighborhood centres”.
How many dark stores and dark kitchens in Toulouse?
In light of the extent of the phenomenon in Île-de-France, they do not want the deviations noted in the capital to break out in the Capitol… Paris and in its inner suburbs, “more than 80 dark stores and 25 dark kitchens have already settled, according to the APUR report” (Atelier parisien d’urbanisme, editor’s note).
And if “the Metropolis of Toulouse sees the establishment of businesses with a similar concept”, these are not (yet?) the same proportions: “In Toulouse, we are far from this situation and what can be observed in the biggest cities”, tempers Souhayla Marty, Deputy Mayor in charge of urban quality. “This economic model is based above all on the density of the territories. And here, we have very few facilities, with the process of controlling what happens there”.
Currently, there would be in Toulouse at least two dark stores, as well as two dark kitchens : the first, Foudie, was opened in December 2020 on avenue Camille-Pujol with BigFlo and Oli as shareholders; the second, Popafood, has had some 12 virtual restaurants since March 2022 at Les Chalets, where it has been making headlines since its arrival. If this activity in Toulouse is still very relative, “in Paris, it is large multinationals which is taking hold, with much more predatory models,” warns Maxime Le Texier.
Avoiding the Paris scenario with “outsourcing nuisances” to the periphery
What worries elected officials is also the effect domino which could result from it. Because it did not escape them: “The recent announcement by the City of Paris to close 45 dark stores is already causing a phenomenon of installation report of these dark shops in the cities of the inner suburbs (Saint-Ouen and Boulogne-Billancourt) to continue to deliver to Parisians, thus causing a kind of externalization of nuisances, from which the 36 other municipalities of the Toulouse metropolis must be protected in the long term”.
What did the elect conclude?
If the wish has been the object intense negotiations between the different groups of the metropolitan council to reach a common text, after several amendments, the elected officials unanimity agreed on a final text, the result of a compromise. Recalling that “France Urbaine (the association that federates the country’s major cities, editor’s note) has already looked into the subject to encourage the susceptible to seize it”, Jean-Luc Moudencthe President of the Métropole, underlined this “collaborative intergroup work”.
On arrival, the elected officials made a commitment, through the intermediary of the president, to call immediately the elected members of the new National Assembly, as well as the senators, in order “to alert the government” on “the need to regulate the operation of dark stores and dark kitchens”. They also urged “a change in the law to distinguish and protect local catering, trade and crafts” from these industrial delivery activities that manage to hide under their status. Other priorities: “Clarifying collective agreements” and “recalling the desire for a greater tax fairness between physical and digital operators.
An establishment soon to be regulated in the PLUiH
In order to “better regulate dark stores and dark kitchens”, the Métropole also intends to carry out some actions plus locale.
“The Toulouse Métropole council recommends (…) integrating precise and binding rules into the new PLUiH in order to define zero activity zones for dark stores and dark kitchens outside suitable areas, taking particular care to preserve the vitality of the retail trade. nearby and to prevent any nuisance from which the inhabitants may suffer, in compliance with existing regulations and legislation”.
Finally, elected officials want to “launch an observation process allowing to identify new installations”. They also intend to “raise awareness and invite delivery platforms to provide their employees” electric vehicles”.
Maxime Le Texier and AMC would have liked to go further and “decree Toulouse as a zero dark kitchen and zero dark store territory”, even if they are well aware that this would have been “more symbolic pressure than anything else”, but they are already prospering that the community has taken a first step, “by taking strong engagement in its PLUiH”.
The key to the problem is mostly in the hands of the product. As it stands, in the Pink City, there is no reason to oppose the establishment of these ghost businesses.
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