Direct sales Brin d'Herbe in Rennes, France

Brin d’Herbe is a group of 20 farmers near Rennes, France, who have been selling farmhouse and organic products in two stores on the outskirts of Rennes for twenty years. The main products are meat (60 percent of the turnover), fruit & vegetables, bakery and dairy products, cheeses, eggs, honey, and cider. They have about 1000 consumers per week. The shop opens three days a week. The turnover is 1.5 million Euros per year.

To run the shop, farmers are organized in a specific form of association that allows them to maintain their identity and operational autonomy vis a vis consumers, and at the same time to define a common space of coordination. This aspect is also a regulatory requirement, as in this way the shop can be classified as a „direct selling“ activity. The legal status of the organisation is a "GIE = Groupement d'Interet Economique" (economic interest group). In addition, Brin d'Herbe runs a cooperation with limited liability, which enables them to carry out retail activities.