Pandobac: Shifting the Food Sector Towards Zero Waste

Anaïs Ryterband, the founder of Pandobac tells us about logistics solutions.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Anaïs Ryterband: We are all ok, and I’m grateful for it.

Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded Pandobac.

Anaïs Ryterband: I graduated from ESCP Business School and started to work in different startups both in Germany and in France. I spent 3,5 years working as a consultant for a data marketing company. Over three years ago, I realized that I expected to find more meaning in my work life and that I wanted to act for a more environment-friendly society. I met Shu Zhang and Roch Feuillade through mutual friends back in 2017, and we decided to build Pandobac together.

How does Pandobac innovate?

Anaïs Ryterband: Pandobac aims at replacing disposable packaging used for food transportation with reusable containers. We innovate in the sense that we help the entire food industry rethink its logistics. We rent containers to food producers and wholesalers, we track the containers thanks to our in-house online platform, and we provide washing services through our own washing center located near Paris or thanks to local partners.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Anaïs Ryterband: We were strongly impacted by the corona crisis in 2020: most of our customers were wholesalers supplying food products to restaurants, which all closed down. We benefited from Covid-relief financial help, which allowed us to keep all of our five employees.

This accelerated our diversification toward new market segments such as retail and farmers. Plus, we created a new business line: consulting. This service aims at accompanying both public and private entities in their development of reuse habits. New regulations in France, such as EGalim and AGEC, generate big challenges for the operations of meal preparations in schools or health facilities. As Pandobac has developed an in-depth knowledge of zero-waste logistics and reuse challenges, we are now able to assist other companies with these topics.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Anaïs Ryterband: Our competitors are long-time established companies, who have traditionally been working with the retail sector. Our plan to stay in the game is to address all other market segments that have not been addressed yet and to challenge the status quo in the retail sector.

Your final thoughts?

Anaïs Ryterband: We believe that we are now at a crossroads, where consumers’ habits and expectations have changed. People now expect more commitment from companies and more sustainable practices. We want to accompany this change and be a real catalyst for it for a world free of packaging waste.

Your website?

https://www.pandobac.com/