Place du Marché

What Place du Marché does

Place du Marché Le Crès is a privately held French specialty grocery retailer (SAS, RCS Montpellier 821 347 333) operating physical stores in Le Crès and Fréjorgues in the Montpellier metropolitan area. Its core proposition is short-supply-chain retail: 85% of products are sourced from more than 200 local producers within a 180km radius, spanning farmers, breeders, fishermen, beekeepers, cheesemakers, brewers, and winemakers from Occitanie. The store is structured around in-house artisan counters — a boucherie with a meat maturation cave, a poissonnerie sourcing from Grau du Roi, a crèmerie with regional AOP cheeses (Roquefort, Cantal), a primeur for fresh produce, and a curated selection of local wines and craft beers — with weekend producer meet-and-greet events used to drive engagement.

The underlying technology stack is minimal: no proprietary software, mobile app, e-commerce site, or API; the digital footprint consists of a WordPress-style marketing website, blog, and Facebook/Instagram accounts. Distribution is entirely brick-and-mortar; the Le Crès flagship (1 Rue du Pic Saint-Loup) operates seven days a week, while the second Fréjorgues location is supplied with matured meat from Le Crès. The company holds no patents, has no disclosed funding rounds, and is independently owned with €100,000 in share capital.

The revenue model is straightforward retail: pay-as-you-go, per-product pricing set by category (e.g., sole €29.90/kg, lamb chops €18.90/kg, beef pot-au-feu kit €9.50/kg), transacted directly with walk-in consumers. There are no subscriptions, contracts, or enterprise customers; revenue is a function of foot traffic and basket size from local Montpellier-area residents who value provenance, terroir, and short supply chains. The company has been recognized as an Ambassador of Quality by the Occitanie region, providing reputational support for its positioning against conventional supermarkets and e-commerce grocery players.

Name

Place du Marché

Legal name

PLACE DU MARCHE

Website

https://place-du-marche.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Place du Marché Le Crès is a privately held French specialty grocery retailer operating two physical stores in the Montpellier area, selling locally sourced produce, meats, seafood, cheeses, and beverages from 200+ producers within a 180km radius.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty food retail (local farmers market / artisanal grocery)

NAICS

Specialty Food Retailers (4452), Fruit and Vegetable Retailers (445230)

SIC

Retail-Food Stores (5400)

akta.pro primary industry

Gourmet & Fine Food Stores (CRAHAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Produce Markets & Greengrocers (CRAHAHAA)

Keywords

• Local food retail
• Artisan grocery store
• Short supply chain
• Regional producers market
• Specialty food shop

Headquarters

HQ city

Le Crès

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales: Revenue generated through direct retail sales of local artisanal food products including meat, fish, cheese, produce, wine, beer, and specialty items. Products are sourced from local producers within 180km radius and sold to consumers visiting the physical store.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Place du Marché is a brick-and-mortar specialty food store that sells locally sourced artisanal products including fresh produce, artisan meats, fish, cheeses, regional wines, and craft beers, all sourced from over 200 producers within a 180km radius. Products are selected and prepared in-store by expert artisans (butchers, fishmongers, cheesemongers, greengrocers) and sold directly to consumers visiting the physical locations in Le Crès and Fréjorgues.

Product overview

Place du Marché Le Crès is a unique local farmers market and specialty food store operating as a unified retail concept. The store features 200+ local producers within a 180km radius and houses multiple in-store artisan stations including a butcher shop (Boucherie), fishmonger's (Poissonnier), cheesemonger's (Crémier), and fresh produce counter (Primeur). The offering is complemented by regional wines and craft beers. The company emphasizes short supply chains, eco-responsible packaging alternatives, and direct relationships between customers and producers through weekend meet-and-greet events. It operates as a traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishment with no technology platform or digital product components.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Place du Marché Le Crès retail store Brick-and-mortar specialty food retail concept offering fresh produce, artisan meats, cheeses, fish, regional wines, and craft beers sourced from 200+ local producers within a 180km radius, targeted at eco-aware consumers in the Le Crès and Montpellier area.
• Artisan Butcher Shop (Boucherie) In-house butchery offering hand-prepared meats including beef from Aveyron, lamb, pork, and aged meats (viande maturée), plus sausages, terrines, rillettes, and other charcuterie prepared on-site by expert butchers.
• Artisan Fishmonger's (Poissonnier) Fresh seafood counter featuring fish from the Grau du Roi fishing port, including sole, sea bass, and squid, sourced from local fishermen.
• Artisan Cheesemonger's (Crémier) Selection of artisan cheeses including Roquefort AOP, Cantal AOP, and regional specialties such as Roc de Caylar and Bethmale.
• Fresh Produce (Primeur) Fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from local market gardeners within 180km, featuring seasonal produce and wild mushrooms.
• Local Wines and Craft Beers Selection of regional wines from Languedoc producers and craft beers from local breweries including Brasserie du Lez, Brasserie des Garrigues, and Brasseurs de la Jonte.
• Producer Meet-and-Greet Events Weekend in-store events where customers can meet local producers, taste their products, and learn about their crafts and production methods.
• Place du Marché Fréjorgues retail store Second physical storefront of the Place du Marché concept, offering the same short-supply-chain local food assortment as the Le Crès flagship store, including matured meat transferred from the Le Crès butchery.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 200+ Local Producers (various locations)coreOthersOver 200 local producers supply the store with products from within 180km radius. Includes farmers, breeders, fishermen, beekeepers, pastry chefs, cheese makers, fish farmers, oyster farmers, brewers, and winemakers from the Montpellier region including Aveyron, Cévennes, and Pyrénées-Orientales.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Naturalia: French organic and natural food specialty retailer (part of the Casino group) with stores across major French cities. Comparable in positioning around organic, local, and artisanal product curation, but operates a much broader urban footprint.
• Biocoop: France's largest organic and fair-trade retail cooperative with a dense national store network. Comparable as a French specialty/organic food retailer emphasizing traceability and producer partnerships, but operates at far larger scale and as a broad incumbent rather than a regional short-supply-chain specialist.
• La Vie Claire: National French organic and natural product retail chain combining grocery, produce, and specialty items. Comparable in selling fresh, local-leaning assortment across multiple in-store stations, but as a multi-hundred-store incumbent with a national footprint.
• Comtesse du Barry: French gourmet and specialty food retailer with national distribution of regional French delicacies (foie gras, charcuterie, cheeses, wines). Comparable in curating regional French artisan specialties for retail sale, but operates as a national gifting/gourmet brand rather than a short-supply-chain store.
• Carrefour Bio: Hypermarket chain's dedicated organic/local-format stores and aisles within larger French supermarkets. Comparable because it increasingly carries the same regional-producer and short-supply-chain assortment that Place du Marché competes on, but as part of a mass-market grocery giant rather than an independent specialist.

Direct peers

• La Ruche qui dit Oui: French online short-supply-chain platform connecting consumers directly to local producers via neighborhood "hives" and pickup points. Closely comparable to Place du Marché's short-supply-chain, producer-direct ethos, but executes through a community-supported model rather than a physical multi-format store.
• Ferme à l'Assiette: French farm-to-table restaurant and short-supply-chain retailer concept highlighting direct producer relationships and traceability. Closely comparable in combining local-producer sourcing with a curated retail/eating experience, though executed more around prepared meals and restaurants.
• Day by Day: French bulk/zero-waste specialty grocery franchise selling local and organic staples unpackaged. Comparable as a French specialty food retailer differentiating on eco-responsibility and local sourcing, though focused on dry/bulk goods rather than the fresh-produce + artisan-meat mix.
• Pour de Bon: French B2B and B2C short-supply-chain platform specializing in local, seasonal food sourced directly from regional producers and artisans. Comparable because it curates and distributes from a network of local producers analogous to Place du Marché's 200+ producer base, with overlap in target chefs and conscious consumers.
• Le Petit Primeur: French greengrocer / primeur retail franchise specializing in fresh fruits and vegetables with strong producer sourcing. Comparable because it overlaps Place du Marché's fresh produce and short-supply-chain value proposition, though with a narrower produce-only assortment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/placedumarchelecres
• Instagraminstagram.com/placedumarchelecres

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Place du Marché