Sitting behind his big polished-wood desk, Malongo’s CEO (paternally at the controls since 1980) welcomes us with his natural good humour. His work space, displaying photos of his many travels, may not have changed since we interviewed him in 2003 but he has continued, as optimistically as ever, to keep the Riviera firm that pioneered organic and free-trade coffee moving forwards. A true visionary, 20 years ago Jean-Pierre Blanc launched Malongo’s signature small-growers coffee that’s now a field-leader in the volume-retailing market. Today the firm imports nigh-on 4000 tonnes of certified coffee from increasing numbers of cooperatives around the world. This 70-year-old man of deep convictions notes regretfully the extent to which the present economic system’s limits are being flagged up. “In 2014 we observed the first effects of climate change on certain areas of Central America. One Mexican cooperative had 95% of its coffee trees destroyed; we moved in very quickly to finance the replanting of 4 million trees that are just starting to fruit for the first time. It’s a fragile equilibrium. If we want to keep peasants in the mountains and enjoy quality products we have to repurpose the system!“ Which he is striving to do “with unfailing faith“ as he puts it. Having launched his recycled-paper pods (the only ones on the market) and his all-French lifetime-repairable Ek’Oh machine, Blanc still has more than one idea up his sleeve. “We’re in the process of introducing French-style coffee shops in various parts of the world, to flag up our art of living and boost the Côte d’Azur internationally. We’ve other projects in the pipeline but I’m not saying any more – competition is tough in our business.“ An open-handed man with a sense of sharing, Blanc is nonetheless a consummate businessman. Which could well be the secret of his success!
Par Marjorie Modi
Photo Jean-Michel Sordello
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