As 2019 dawns, a fundamental debate starts to divide the founders. On one side, Antoine Fichet, a fervent champion of 100% French production, for whom social impact is the company’s very reason for being. On the other, Damian Py, more pragmatic, who believes a company must first be economically viable to create lasting jobs.
This ideological tension runs into a relentless economic reality:
At the heart of the gap: labour costs. In France, an hour of work including employer charges costs between €20 and €30, against just €2 to €4 in China. Yet contrary to popular belief, this gap doesn’t make French production hopelessly uncompetitive: the real extra cost is around 30-50%, not 200-300% as is often imagined, and it depends on how much human work is needed.
A Tesla fan, Damian Py cites the carmaker as his model for optimising production: an integrated design with a one-piece chassis that cuts the number of parts and the assembly time. For a Bob mini dishwasher, labour time was brought down to just 32 minutes per unit, limiting the impact of the wage gap.
But the economics of household appliances make the equation even harder. Historically, this kind of equipment is mostly sold in hypermarkets or specialist shops, which means you need a comfortable margin so the retailer gets to eat too.
The impact on profitability is drastic:
Multiplied by thousands of units, this difference in profitability shows the scale of the economic challenge that choosing French production represents.
That’s actually why Daan initially opts for a D2C3 distribution model, like the DNVBs4. By cutting out traditional retailers and their 30 to 40% margin, the company can put that difference into its own distribution channels, its marketing and its customer service.
Another model inspired by Tesla, which started out selling its cars directly without going through dealerships, maximising its margins while controlling the customer experience from end to end.
The approach wins people over, and to launch its first real production run, Daan holds a first funding round in 2019 with 17 business angels, including Guillaume Lestrade, co-founder of Meero. Py, the majority shareholder with 55%, drops to 40%, the BAs rise to 27%, and €640K is raised.
It’s this round that pays for the move to Cugand and the opening of the 2,600m² factory, which becomes the symbol of an ambition: proving that French appliance manufacturing can work, in a sector massively weakened by offshoring.
The challenge remains: proving the model is viable in the long run, in a market dominated by international giants with globalised production chains.