Popotes, cantine respectueuse

What Popotes, cantine respectueuse does

Popotes, cantine respectueuse operates a French healthy fast-casual restaurant network under POPOTES GROUP SAS, founded in 2016 by Julien Lefeuvre and Guillaume Meaud with the opening of the first location at 25 Rue d'Assas in Paris 6e. The concept is a neighbourhood foodbar and coffee shop offering all-day dining — breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, and dinner at select locations — built around bowls, salads, seasonal dishes, pastries, and specialty beverages (matcha latte, coffee), with a menu refreshed every two months to reflect seasonality. There is no traditional chef role; daily preparation relies on raw, seasonal products across the network.

The company operates through a hybrid go-to-market combining directly-managed locations and a 'licence de marque' (brand license) model that recruits restaurateur-entrepreneurs to open new sites under the Popotes brand. The franchise economics include €30K HT entry fees, €300K HT average total investment, a minimum €50K HT personal contribution from the licensee, 5%+1% marketing royalties of CA HT, and a 7-year contract term, targeting €600K HT per-location revenue at two years. As of 2024-2026, the network comprises 13 locations across Paris (8 sites), Lyon (Part Dieu), Dijon (Clémenceau, Notre Dame), and Rennes (Isly), with 10 additional openings planned for 2023-2025. Popotes also operates a B2B corporate catering vertical (Traiteur Entreprises) and an online ordering platform (commande.popotes.fr).

Revenue is generated from three streams: daily food and beverage sales across restaurant locations, franchise entry and royalty fees, and corporate catering. The brand identity is anchored in the IFOOD values framework (Intégrité, Fair trade, Ouverture, Orientation client, Dynamique collaborative) and three pillars of collaborative economy, social entrepreneurship, and collective responsibility. Marketing relies on organic social channels (Instagram, TikTok), an email 'Foodletter', the company website, and dedicated franchise and catering landing pages. The company is privately held with €127,600 share capital, no disclosed external institutional funding, and no public listing.

Name

Popotes, cantine respectueuse

Legal name

POPOTES GROUP

Website

https://popotes.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Popotes, cantine respectueuse is a French healthy fast-casual restaurant chain operating 13 neighbourhood foodbar and coffee shop locations across Paris, Lyon, Dijon, and Rennes, combining directly-run sites with a brand-license model to expand the all-day dining concept.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (72232)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Health-Focused Cafes (Organic/Vegan/Wellness) (THAFADAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Breakfast & Coffee QSR (THAFAAAI)

Keywords

• Healthy fast casual
• Neighborhood foodbar
• Coffee shop dining
• Corporate catering
• Brand license restaurant

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Sales (owned and licensed locations): Revenue generated from daily food and beverage sales across owned and licensed restaurant locations. The brand targets CA HT of 600K€ per location at two years. Products include breakfast, bowls, salads, coffee, pastries, and evening offerings at select locations.
2. Brand License / Franchise Fees: Entry rights (droits d'entrée) of 30K€ HT charged to new licensees, plus ongoing royalties of 5% + 1% marketing of CA HT. The license contract runs for 7 years.
3. Corporate Catering (Traiteur entreprises): B2B catering services for corporate events including seminars, business lunches, meetings, and team workshops. Orders are placed via the website and include customized menus with dietary accommodations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Popotes operates a neighborhood foodbar and coffee-shop concept serving fresh, seasonal bowls, salads, superbowls, sandwiches, pastries, coffee and specialty drinks (e.g., matcha latte) all day, from breakfast through dinner at select locations. The company runs its service across 13 owned and licensed restaurants in France, complemented by a corporate catering arm (Traiteur Entreprises) and an online ordering platform for pickup.

Product overview

Popotes is a French healthy restaurant and coffee shop chain operating under the unified brand 'Popotes Foodbar & Coffee'. The company offers a single integrated dining concept centered on fresh, seasonal, and gourmet food served all day, combining elements of a canteen and coffee shop. The portfolio consists of the core restaurant service (bowls, salads, coffee, and all-day dining), a corporate catering division (Traiteur Entreprises), and a franchise/license de marque program. The company maintains multiple restaurant locations across France (Paris, Lyon, Dijon, Rennes) and provides an online ordering system for customer convenience. Founded in 2016, Popotes positions itself as a collaborative and responsible restaurant network with an emphasis on fresh products and community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Popotes Foodbar & Coffee (all-day restaurant service) All-day neighborhood foodbar and coffee-shop service serving fresh, seasonal bowls, salads, superbowls, sandwiches, pastries, coffee and specialty drinks (e.g., matcha latte) for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner at select locations across 13 sites in Paris, Lyon, Dijon and Rennes.
• Traiteur Entreprises (corporate catering) B2B catering service for corporate events — seminars, business lunches, team workshops and internal meetings — with customized menus that accommodate dietary requirements and allergens, delivered by Popotes in Paris, Lyon, Dijon and Rennes.
• Licence de Marque Popotes (brand license program) Brand-license / franchise offering that lets independent restaurateurs open and operate Popotes restaurants, with onboarding (discovery, DIP, 'petit bain' / 'grand bain'), supportive consultative committees, supply-chain access and a collaborative community of engaged entrepreneurs.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Zest: Emerging French healthy fast-casual/café concept with a small but growing footprint, focused on fresh bowls, salads, and specialty coffee. Comparable on healthy cantine positioning and counter-service format, though smaller and less established than Popotes.

Direct peers

• Cojean: French healthy fast-casual restaurant chain offering bowls, salads, soups and fresh seasonal products across 70+ locations in Paris, other French cities, and internationally. Directly comparable to Popotes on product (bowls/salads), target customer (urban professionals seeking healthy lunch), and pricing tier.
• Daily Coffee: French specialty coffee and brunch concept operating in Paris with a focus on healthy breakfast/lunch items and specialty coffee drinks. Comparable on healthy all-day café format and Parisian urban professional target audience.
• Bob's Bake Shop: Parisian healthy fast-casual concept serving bowls, salads, and fresh seasonal dishes, with multiple Paris locations. Comparable on urban professional target segment and bowls/coffee product mix, though brand positioning skews more US-inspired.
• Joe & The Juice: International health-focused juice and coffee bar chain offering juices, smoothies, coffee, and light food in a counter-service café setting. Comparable on the coffee + healthy food all-day format and urban professional customer, though operates at much larger scale.
• Exki: Belgian-origin fast-casual chain serving fresh, seasonal, plant-forward meals (bowls, salads, soups, pastries) in a counter-service café format across France and Europe. Comparable on all-day healthy café positioning and urban professional target audience, though Exki is larger and more international.
• Café Coton: French healthy fast-casual chain focused on customizable bowls, salads, and hot dishes, with multiple Paris locations and a franchise growth model. Closely comparable to Popotes on healthy cantine positioning, Parisian customer base, and counter-service café format.

Broad incumbents

• Le Pain Quotidien: Established international bakery-restaurant chain serving organic bread, bowls, salads, coffee and breakfast items in communal-table settings. Comparable on healthy all-day café format and franchise-style expansion, but operates at much larger scale with broader geographic footprint.
• Big Mamma: Major French restaurant group operating multiple healthy and Italian-inspired restaurant brands across Paris, London, and other European cities. Comparable as a high-profile Paris fast-casual/restaurant operator targeting similar demographics, though focused on Italian dining.

Regional players

• Bagelstein: French franchise chain specializing in bagels, salads, and coffee in a counter-service format with multiple locations across eastern France. Comparable on quick-service café concept and franchise growth model, though focuses on bagels rather than bowls.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/popotes.allday
• TikToktiktok.com/@popotes.allday
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/p-cantine-respectueuse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Popotes, cantine respectueuse