VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole

What VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole does

VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole (legal name: Association Vers un Réseau d'Achat en Commun) is a French non-profit association (loi 1901) founded in 2015 at the national level, with the Strasbourg local entity operating since 2017. It facilitates group purchasing groups (groupements d'achats) in priority neighborhoods (quartiers prioritaires de la politique de la ville, QPV) of the Strasbourg Eurométropole. Its mission is to provide residents of these neighborhoods with access to organic, local, and fair-trade products at low prices by reducing intermediate costs and packaging through short supply chains, while supporting fair remuneration for small-scale producers.

The core product is the L'Epicerie Vrac e-commerce platform (epicerie.vrac-asso.org), through which members place monthly orders and collect products at ten ephemeral grocery stores (épiceries éphémères) hosted by partner community centers (Centres socio-culturels) across the Strasbourg Eurométropole. A dedicated student sub-product, VRAC Etudiant, operates at La Recyclerie By Amitel near the University of Strasbourg. Distribution runs through a single warehouse at 11 rue St Guillaume in Strasbourg, with monthly 'Grand Dispatch' operations preparing orders for all purchasing groups. Suppliers include Alsace-based producers such as Solibio (produce), GAEC de la Bruche (eggs), Rémi Jung/Moulin Waldmuhle (flour), Rucher de l'Ill (honey), Sati (coffee), and Savonnerie Argasol du Val d'Argent (soaps).

VRAC operates on a solidarity-based revenue model. Membership is annual with differentiated pricing: €1 minimum for QPV residents, social housing tenants, low-income individuals, students with scholarships, single-parent families, isolated individuals, and people with disabilities; €20 minimum for other residents. Products are sold at cost. Supplementary income comes from public grants (CCAS de Strasbourg, Collectivité européenne d'Alsace, European funds) and private foundation support (notably Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso), plus national donation campaigns via Hello Asso. As of October 2025, the association has reached its logistical and financial capacity ceiling and is temporarily not accepting new members. The team is approximately seven people, including two co-coordinators, an administrator, animatrices, and an alternante, governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.

Name

VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole

Legal name

Association Vers un Réseau d'Achat en Commun (VRAC)

Website

https://strasbourg.vrac-asso.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole is a non-profit association running community group-purchasing groups that give low-income and vulnerable residents of the Strasbourg Eurométropole affordable access to organic, local, and fair-trade products through monthly bulk orders collected at neighborhood community centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food Distribution

NAICS

All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298)

SIC

Retail-Nonstore Retailers (5960)

akta.pro primary industry

Buying Clubs & Community Bulk Purchasing Co-ops (CRAHALAE)

Keywords

• Collective purchasing groups
• Bulk food retail
• Food justice initiative
• Organic fair trade
• Community distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Strasbourg

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Annual membership fees with voluntary pricing model. Members pay 1€ minimum for low-income/priority residents or 20€ minimum for other residents, with freedom to pay more.
2. Product sales: Products are sold at cost price through collective purchasing. The association is non-profit oriented, with products provided to members at affordable prices.
3. Donations and grants: National donation campaigns (e.g., December solidarity campaign) and financial support from institutional partners including CCAS, Collectivité européenne d'Alsace, European funds, and private foundations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole is a non-profit association (association loi 1901) that organizes collective purchasing groups (groupements d'achats) in priority neighborhoods (QPV) of the Strasbourg Eurométropole. Members place monthly orders through the L'Epicerie VRAC online platform (epicerie.vrac-asso.org) and collect organic, local, and fair-trade products at ephemeral grocery stores hosted at community centers, accessing quality food at cost price via short supply chains with minimal packaging.

Product overview

VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole is a non-profit association facilitating collective purchasing in priority neighborhoods across the Strasbourg metropolitan area. The core offering consists of groupements d'achats (group purchasing groups) operating through L'Epicerie VRAC, an online ordering platform where members place monthly orders and collect products at community center distribution points. The VRAC Etudiant sub-product extends these services specifically to university students. Products include organic/local/fair-trade food items, household cleaning products, and personal hygiene products, all sourced through short supply chains with fair pricing to producers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• L'Epicerie VRAC

Quantifiable outcome

• Support for 10,000 people across all VRAC territories nationally

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Savonnerie Argasol du Val d'ArgentmajorOthers · 27 October 2021Soap producer from Haut-Rhin specializing in cold-saponified soaps certified organic, Nature & Progrès and Cosmos Organic. VRAC sells their soaps in purchasing groups. Located in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines.
• Centre socio-culturel Montagne VertecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity social center hosting VRAC distribution point and organizing joint activities including family outings to producers. Located at 10 rue d'Ostwald, Montagne Verte, Strasbourg.
• Centre socio-culturel JSK (Koenigshoffen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity social center at 41 rue Virgile, Koenigshoffen-est, hosting a VRAC purchasing group and co-organizing family activities.
• La Recyclerie By AmitelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving and sharing space at 1b Rue de l'Hôpital-Militaire, hosting VRAC Etudiant purchasing group. Located 8 minutes from University of Strasbourg.
• Solibio (Coppérative)majorOthersAlsace-based cooperative supplying fresh produce (garlic, onions, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables) to VRAC Strasbourg.
• GAEC de la BruchemajorOthersLocal farm in Alsace supplying free-range eggs to VRAC Strasbourg purchasing groups.
• Rémi Jung (Moulin Waldmuhle)majorOthersSmall producer from Bas-Rhin supplying organic wheat flour, semi-whole wheat flour, spelt flour, and oat flakes from Alsace.
• Rucher de l'IllminorOthersBeekeeper located in Illkirch, Alsace, supplying honey to VRAC Strasbourg.
• Sati (Cafés)minorOthersAlsace-based supplier providing organic and fair-trade coffee to VRAC Strasbourg.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Réseau AMAP: France's national federation of AMAPs (Associations pour le maintien d'une agriculture paysanne), the closest functional peer to VRAC Strasbourg: community-based group purchasing of organic / peasant-agriculture products directly from local producers, often co-organised in neighbourhoods via local civic associations. Same product category (bulk organic food), same mission (short supply chains, fair producer pay, accessibility) and same member-driven operating model.
• La Ruche qui dit Oui: French online platform that organises community-supported group purchases ("ruches") of local / artisan food products, with weekly pickup points run by volunteer "responsables de ruche". Highly comparable to VRAC Strasbourg in terms of online ordering + physical community pickup, short supply chain emphasis and volunteer-driven distribution, though La Ruche operates more as a marketplace than a non-profit.
• Day by Day: French franchise of zero-waste / bulk ("vrac") grocery stores where consumers refill their own containers. Comparable because Day by Day directly competes for the same bulk / zero-packaging organic shopper, but unlike VRAC it is a commercial storefront model rather than a community-driven buying group.

Broad incumbents

• Satoriz: French independent organic retail chain concentrated in eastern / southeastern France, including Alsace — the same territory as VRAC Strasbourg. Overlaps directly with VRAC on organic / bulk product assortment and regional catchment, but as a commercial storefront incumbent rather than a community purchasing association.
• Naturalia: French organic retail chain (part of the Casino group) carrying organic, vegetarian, vegan and bulk products. Same product category and partial customer overlap with VRAC, but operates a conventional paid storefront model and serves urban centres rather than priority neighbourhoods.
• La Vie Claire: Major French organic and bulk retail chain with national coverage. Comparable product mix (organic, bulk, local) to VRAC but delivered through paid storefronts rather than community-anchored membership, positioning it as a broad incumbent rather than a direct community-led peer.
• Biocoop: France's largest organic retail cooperative, with several hundred stores nationally. Broad incumbent operating in the same organic / local / fair-trade product category as VRAC, but as a paid retail storefront rather than a non-profit community buying group, so overlapping customer base but distinct model.

Others

• Réseau Cocagne: French federation of "Jardins de Cocagne", organic market gardens that combine social insertion through work with short-circuit vegetable distribution. Adjacent to VRAC's mission around food justice, organic agriculture and local supply chains, but the operating model is production-based rather than group purchasing.
• Cagette: French SaaS platform used by AMAPs, groupements d'achat and short food-circuit associations to manage subscriptions, orders and distributions. Adjacent / enabling technology peer rather than a direct competitor — it is the kind of software infrastructure VRAC's "L'Epicerie Vrac" parallels in functionality.
• La Recyclerie: Paris-based community / third-place combining a bar, coworking, urban farm and educational programming around sustainability and the circular economy. Conceptually adjacent to the community / civic-engagement dimension of VRAC Strasbourg's work, although its commercial and cultural offering is broader than VRAC's bulk-food purchasing focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/VRAC-Strasbourg-1599282820100109
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vrac-strasbourg-eurom%C3%A9tropole
• Instagraminstagram.com/vrac.etudiants.strasbourg

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 VRAC Strasbourg Eurométropole