With a lot of passion and a true love for fruit and vegetables, Patrick Hasaj embarked on his own entrepreneurship adventure by creating the “Conscience Primeur” stores. Eight stores are now open in the Essonne department.
Patrick describes himself as a “pure old-school seller of fresh produce”, who has been immersed in the world of fruit and vegetables since the age of 13, starting his career at the Rungis market. “I have always been in this profession and I am saddened by the fact that true fresh produce sellers like we used to find 20 years ago have now disappeared. Today, there is no longer any respect for or appreciation of the product, which has been replaced by a race for the margin. This is why, a few years ago, I decided to create my own style with the “Primeur Ethique” stores, exclusively focused on organic products. But these 100% organic products were also 100% too expensive. This was contradictory with my desire to allow everyone to have access to good and healthy products. I therefore sold the business a few months ago to create ‘Conscience Primeur’.”
“We must know how to please both producers and consumers”
With Conscience Primeur, Patrick wanted to make accessible to everyone some good local and seasonal products, cultivated with passion and with respect for the environment and the people who produce and consume them.
“80 to 90% of the products are made in France. I selected my producers for their values and their work. Some are organic and some others are not, but our reasoning goes beyond the labels. What matters is that they grow good products in a healthy way. One of my producers has been growing its vegetables for 8 generations. It is their whole life and this work must be valued. We should not cut prices. I sometimes pay more to my producers than I would somewhere else, but it’s a matter of exchanging favors. I have been offered Polish apples at 0.50€ [0.53 USD] but I would never even consider the option: I have excellent apples just an hour away. So I sometimes pay more for a product, but I sometimes get a nice price for another product. And it is also a way to please consumers, by offering them good products at affordable prices. In the end, everyone wins.”
“There is nothing more beautiful than a fruit or a vegetable”
It is once again with this desire to value fruit and vegetables that Patrick created the unique universe of the Conscience Primeur stores. “When customers walk into our stores, I want them to feel as if they are in a garden, with this atmosphere that is so specific and so inherent to the world of fruit and vegetables. There is nothing more beautiful than a fruit or a vegetable. No need to invest in shelves and other installations, the products themselves are enough. The vegetables are placed on pallets, which is as simple as it gets. We try to display them in a way that will enhance their value. I also pay a lot of attention to training. I look for employees who want to learn and can develop this passion for the profession and the products. It is not always an easy task because the profession is not the most attractive out there. The world of fruit and vegetables is tough, does not pay much compared to the amount of work, but it is actually so human, endearing, formative and extraordinary. The work of a fruit and vegetable seller is, by far, the most beautiful job in the world.”
Necessary global reassessment
Patrick never negotiates prices with his producers, but he is absolutely uncompromising with wholesalers. “The margins practiced today by wholesalers and retailers are just insane. It is a disgrace that is destroying our profession and contributing to the decline of the organic sector. A general reassessment is necessary to come out of this crisis. The standardization of fruit and vegetables also affects our work. Today, many producers try to develop short-circuits in order to value products that do not fit the caliber imposed by mass retailers. However, an apple may be small but also excellent, and would actually be perfect for a child.”
“This race for price and standardization pushes professionals to increase their calibers in order to reduce the costs, which often occurs at the expense of quality. With Conscience Primeur, I want to bring something different. My goal is to eventually become the fresh produce retailer of the city centers, with my own quality criteria and selling everything directly from the producers. I want to bring meaning back to our work, as well as passion and respect. In other words, a system where both producers and consumers can find what they’re looking for.”
For more information:
Patrick Hasaj
Conscience Primeur
Phone: 07 69 64 51 16
[email protected]