Freddy met Curry: zero waste food

“Consumers are changing and becoming much more concerned about what they are eating, the origin of the products they are consuming and their carbon footprint,” says Jeremie Lambin, CEO of Freddy met Curry, a sustainable caterer in Brussels that specialises in zero-waste lunch making and delivery services.

A business engineer by way of background, Jeremie was born and raised in Brussels by parents with a strong inclination towards sustainability and low waste. “I always had a strong draw to entrepreneurship, but the sustainability side definitely comes from my parents. With Freddy met Curry we wanted to be local, veggie and zero waste. And to be truly zero waste, no greenwashing.”

Bringing together a series of eco-responsible actors he had met before, Jeremie set up a business that prides itself on its sustainability dimension: everything is 100% organic, jars are collected, cleaned and re-used, menus evolve with the seasons, suppliers are all local, and delivery is done by bicycle. The business relies mainly on business lunch delivery working with B2B clients, who often have a CSR interest, but also catering for events. “It’s a truly comprehensive impact product,” he adds. “We make most of the food in-house but also work with external partners. Salads, cookies and desserts are made by persons with disabilities.”

After a bumpy ride during the pandemic lockdowns, Freddy met Curry re-invented itself in its current form and is now on a growth trajectory, with plans for food trucks and a centralised production unit investment. As part of the growth efforts, Jeremie obtained an EU-guaranteed loan through Credal, backed by the EIF. “We needed cash to push ahead with recruitment and build up our own stock of material for events and we also bought an electric cargo bike,” he explains. “We got the loan in February, and it helped us get going until we broke even in May 2022,” he says, underlining the challenges of running a start-up. The plan is to now centralise production: “The new central kitchen unit will help us better respond enlarge our offering, expand our formats, execute faster, and also reduce customer order times.”

Company: Freddymetcurry (Anderlecht, Belgium)

Type of business: food & beverage

Financial intermediary: Credal

Financing purpose: buying equipment, building up stock, staff recruitment

EIF financing: EaSI Guarantee Financial Instrument SE, EFSI

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Austria, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/ro/index.htm