From Solvay to Success - Aurélien Marino & Ludovic Libert

From Where?

Aurélien, a French national, moved to Belgium at the age of 16. I attended Cardinal Mercier College before joining Solvay in 2010.
Ludovic, a Belgian from Brussels, who also studied at Solvay.

We met through mutual friends and worked before launching HappyHours Market: he in strategy at Solvay, and myself as a business manager in the pharmaceutical and chemical sector.

From which program and class do you come?

Aurélien completed his bachelor’s in business engineering and his master’s in management science, graduating in 2015. Ludovic completed his Bachelor's in Economic Sciences and his Master's in Economic Sciences, graduating in 2016.

Have you had an experience abroad with SBS-EM? How has it influenced your life?

I did an Erasmus in Uppsala (Sweden). In my opinion, it's a pivotal experience. It opens our eyes to an economy, a culture, etc., very different from what we may know. It pushes us to develop our empathy and teaches us to step out of our comfort zone and adapt. It's also about making beautiful connections, a network of expatriates with whom we stay in touch and whom I actually see every year. (Aurélien).

What is the concept of Happy Hours Market?

Our concept aimed to gather unsold products and make them accessible to those who want to shop sustainably, save money, or reduce their food budget.

What triggered the creation of Happy Hours Market?

After our first professional experiences, we realized our projects had little impact on our environment and society. We were engaged in long-term projects, making it difficult to assess their real impact. Personally, I felt like a pawn in a consulting firm, where goals were mainly financial, without ecological or social considerations. Exploring problematic sectors, we identified food waste as one of the most concerning issues, contributing to pollution and global hunger. In Belgium, food waste is alarming, with a third of the global production discarded, especially fruits and vegetables. The retail sector struggles to manage products close to their expiration date and unsold items, leading to enormous amounts of wasted food. In Brussels, supermarkets discard about 200 tons of food per day, while only 20 tons are recovered or repurposed. This food waste exacerbates social inequalities, as nearly a third of the Belgian population lives below the poverty line. Rising food costs push more people toward lower-quality products, amplifying economic disparities.

How did you initiate the launch of Happy Hours Market and secure funding?

We launched our first crowdfunding campaign with Lita, which allowed us to validate our model with customers and increase our visibility. With this, we raised €140,000, enabling us to buy our first vehicle, acquire a storage area, and hire our first employees. A year later, we secured a €300,000 convertible loan, and two years ago, a larger fundraising round of several million. Today, our logistics network includes 7 to 8 vehicles that collect unsold items daily from supermarkets in Brussels and surrounding areas, covering a large geographical area. These products are then centralized in our warehouse at Tour & Taxi, sorted, scanned, and listed on our app. Our customers can purchase these products at half price or less, depending on their expiration date, and pick them up at a collection point of their choice, with schedules tailored to their needs. The remaining products are distributed to 12 partner charities, benefiting from a free supply of these products without storage, distribution, or transportation costs.

How does Happy Hours Market collaborate with local authorities and community organizations to address the social challenges specific to the regions where you operate?

We redistribute products approaching their expiration date and not sold to partner charities in Brussels. This offers them the advantage of no longer having to manage the storage, distribution, and costly transportation of these products.

Which skills did you acquire during your time at SBS-EM that you use the most today?

Ludovic developed strong expertise in finance, allowing us to analyze the market accurately. Meanwhile, Aurélien, through his entrepreneurship courses, reminded us of the importance of meeting customer needs. This academic background helped us ask the right questions and avoid rushing into our ideas. Our studies at Solvay also instilled in us a sense of organization, professionalism, and essential social skills, gained through practical projects and interactions with real companies. Solvay taught us the importance of profitability in a capitalist world, guiding our business model for Happy Ours Market. We sought to reconcile social and environmental impact while ensuring our long-term financial viability, without relying on subsidies. Profitability remains an essential pillar of our growth and our commitment to both aspects.

Did you utilize any for the resources provided by the school to launch Happy Hours Market or seek guidance?

Our experience with Start Lab was essential. I think it is crucial to be accompanied by an incubator when embarking on entrepreneurship. This allows you to apply the knowledge gained during your studies, obtain structure, question yourself, and be guided in the initial stages, which are crucial for the future of the company. It is better to take the right path from the start, asking the right questions and being prepared to adjust your trajectory if necessary.

Is there a particular teacher at SBS-EM who had a significant impact on you as a student?

I would say that Olivier Witmeur's entrepreneurship course was a memorable experience. It was a practical and realistic course that directly confronted us with the real challenges of starting a project. Deeply assertive and demanding, this course highlighted the difficulties and harsh reality of entrepreneurship.

You are often visible on your Alma Mater's campus, are ULB students fond of this initiative?

At ULB, our service is very popular and in high demand. We have many student clients as well as residents living near the university. Our main clientele consists largely of single mothers, financially fragile households, seeking to provide quality food to their children despite limited means. We also attract students and young professionals at the beginning of their careers, keen on sustainable shopping despite tight budgets. Additionally, we appeal to a broader audience, mainly women and mothers with stable incomes but wanting to adopt a more ecological approach to their purchases while making savings. Our presence at ULB is particularly effective due to the large number of students present, although we note a marked seasonality, especially during summer vacations and after exam periods in January.

What do you feel passionate about?

The project we launched aligns perfectly with our personal aspirations. We undertook introspective work at the beginning of our entrepreneurial journey to understand our deep motivations. We wondered why we got up in the morning, and having a positive impact on the environment was an essential part of our answer. So, we defined the project's values based on our own personal values, ensuring we aligned and emphasized them throughout the project's evolution. By establishing these foundations on what truly drove us, we ensure that we will always be motivated to advance Happy Ours and work in line with our values. For us, it is crucial that our work is more than just a daily occupation; we see it as a passion that shapes our life five days a week. Additionally, we place great importance on sports.

Who has had the biggest influence on you?

Initially, I was impressed by the management philosophy of the CEO of Netflix. It's a corporate culture that strongly emphasizes empowering and giving significant independence to employees. (Aurélien)

So, to where now?

We are completely autonomous. For the past year, our goal has been to expand our model on a large scale in Brussels, opening 20 collection points and collaborating with over 60 store suppliers and around forty distributor suppliers. Our ambition is to have these 20 collection points operational by the end of the year, to offer every Brussels resident easy access to our services. Our aim is to demonstrate that our system can operate autonomously at a certain volume, allowing us to achieve profitability. Currently, we have 35 employees and around 60 students exclusively handling distribution at the collection point. To support our growth, we need to invest in acquiring new teams and secure additional funding to implement the necessary phases. Although we focus on Brussels due to its large market size, we have also received requests from cities such as Ghent, Antwerp, Charleroi, and Liège, as well as from abroad. Our vision is to validate our model in Brussels before developing a plan to replicate our success in other cities, capitalizing on our accumulated experience.