CSR Portrait n°24: La Boulangerie Française
Vietnam's economic development and the rise of its middle class are accompanied by a growth in tourism, which is boosting the European artisanal bakery sector in the country. With Vietnam already facing a significant shortage of skilled labour, there are many opportunities for young people trained in the sector, providing them with job security.
The trajectory of neighbouring countries (Japan, Korea, China) also confirms that European artisanal bakery is a profession with a future.
Giving meaning to one’s life and contributing to other people's happiness can be done by enjoying oneself. It is possible to indulge and help others at the same time. "We bake for change. You eat for change"
- Van Trinh, project manager of La Boulangerie Française, an IECD social enterprise
1 - Can you explain your business in a few words?
La Boulangerie Française, a project of the French NGO IECD - which has been operating n Vietnam for 12 years, aims to help vulnerable youth. For the past 5 years, the NGO has been operating a vocational training center for traditional and artisanal French bakery in partnership with a Vietnamese technical college. This training responds both to the growing needs of the hotel, restaurant and F&B sector for advanced baking skills and to the social and professional integration of marginalized youth, including young women and ethnic minorities.
The boarding school and the training which are entirely financed by the IECD, allow us to support 20 young people per year via a 12-month on-site French CAP apprenticeship followed by a 6-month internship with partner employers (including Fusion, Accor, Six Senses, Bakes Saigon, Marou, Central Retail, Le Square, The Cocoa Project, ...).
2 - Have you already implemented a CSR project on environmental or social issues in your company in Vietnam?
La Boulangerie Française is not a traditional bakery but a social enterprise. This means that the products sold are entirely made by the students and all the income generated is reinvested in financing their training. This social enterprise model was chosen from the outset to enable the school to be self-financing and to ensure its long-term sustainability.
The school operates in the following way:
- Identification of students through two means: spontaneous applications (word of mouth) or through a local association/international NGO. So far, the program has reached young people from 35 of the country's 63 provinces.
- Selection interview. The criteria are as follows:
- 18 years old minimum
- Motivated to support their family and do something with their hands
- Socio-economic criteria: vulnerable family (income less than 5 million VND/month/household), without access to higher education
The training is divided into 3 stages of 6 months. The first 6 months are devoted to learning the basics. This is followed by 6 months where the former students will mentor the newcomers while continuing their learning. In addition to the technical skills, the focus is on the acquisition of life skills to help them becoming independent (soft skills, general culture, etc.).
With a make-to-order production, this training enable youth to practice according to the needs and variations of the market, to develop their English and sales skills thanks to a direct contact with the clients and to strengthen their employability.
In addition, it puts them in direct contact with customers and thus to develop their English and sales skills and to strengthen their employability.
At the end of the first 12 months, a final exam is held with a jury of professionals. The validation of the knowledge acquired gives the pass to a 6-month internship with a partner employer. 90% of the internships are converted into a job afterwards.
After completing the training, 85% of former students are still working in the sector and some are even sous chefs in kitchens or in bakery-pastry shops.
Within the company, CSR choices have also been made:
- Promoting more reasoned, reasonable and quality consumption. Encouraging the anticipation of needs in order to gather the week's orders by proposing a weekly basket similar to the vegetable baskets.
- An ecological commitment with the choice of eco-responsible packaging that can be returned, the employment of a single delivery person and the organization of his route to reduce the ecological footprint.
Did you know?
According to the European Commission's definition, a social enterprise is defined as an organization “whose business is based on a social or societal objective of common interest"; enterprises whose profits are mainly reinvested in the business; and finally, those "whose organization and ownership system reflect the mission, based on democratic or participatory principles, or aiming at social justice".
Thus, it is not the generation of profit or not that defines a social enterprise but the choice of its allocation to the community.
3 - What kind of advice could you give to other companies in Vietnam to launch such a CSR project?
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My first advice is to think about the sustainability of your project. For it to be sustainable, its model has to be sustainable and it has to benefit a maximum of stakeholders.
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A second key point is not to try to be completely autonomous but rather to find the right balance between sponsors, donations and income-generating activities. It is not just about receiving funds but about reaching people with converging interests, benefiting from their expertise and network while increasing visibility.
The KOTO (Know One, Teach One) model in Vietnam embodies this NGO model where the community is central to both the project and the benefits. - Another important point to take into is to think about is how to incorporate the social mission at all levels of the company and not only in the final product or service. The operational part can also be rethought to be more sustainable: make-to-order production to reduce waste, create logical delivery circuits to reduce travel... Beyond encouraging customers to change their habits to be more ecological, this reduces expenses and therefore increases the company's contribution to its social objective.
- A final point specific to Vietnam is that social enterprises in the legal sense of the term do not have advantages linked to their status. It is therefore easier today to create a classic enterprise and rethink its social mission.
