Son of Mr. André Quintin, president of the CSCDFLP Ile-de-France (French Retail Association for Fruit and Vegetables and Early Produce) and genial "public figure" at Rungis Market, Pierre Quintin's (54 years old) first passion was for electronics. Following a BTS (higher technician's license), he created a small company dealing in electronic kits while working as a freelance journalist for several specialist trade magazines such as Le Haut Parleur, Electronique Pratique, Radio Plan, etc. In 1975 however, he turned towards fresh produce and created a fruit and vegetable retail business in Paris with his father. We added dairy, meat and delicatessen products to the fruits and vegetables. We found our "niche" and our company started to develop, finally setting up at Rungis in 1998. Our business is 100% family owned and counts 25 employees. Our 700 customers include childrens' communities (3 months to 3 years old), creches from the departmental and municipal sectors (including Paris, a major customer), associations, the private and business sector, etc. to whom we deliver twice a week. We commit ourselves to a "zero defect" policy on the quality of both products and services, with a traceability procedure established in real time over three years. To deal with constraints related to delivery times, childrens' mealtimes, traffic circulation, etc. we have developed our own software for optimising orders and delivery rounds.

Taken together, our products represent a range of about 600 references including twenty varieties of tomato, fifteen of salads, etc. We sell two million seedling vegetables (mainly tomatoes, salads and vine plants), three million bedding plants, two thirds of which are sold in spring and a multitude of other products. Accordingly, all our refrigerated lorries are fitted with the Thales GPS (remote positioning) system and our drivers all have mobile phones. IT plays a large part in our business and our strength is having been able to "impose" our own delivery days on our customers. We have some 2,500 references (fruits and vegetables, dairy products, delicatessen, frozen foods, etc.) 60% of which is fruits, vegetables and dairy products. These are monitored 24 hours a day with video recordings. The age of our young customers means the greatest care must be taken with respect to food safety. All foods are validated by both an independent dietician and a dietician from the Paris council with respect to their nutritional, taste and non-allergic qualities; for example, fish is always boneless and eggs extra fresh daily. Incidentally, our services show a satisfaction rate of 96%. We buy 75% of our produce at Rungis Market which has consistently come up to expectations. As far as our business is concerned, Rungis is a key partner…"