Camif: "Without the commitment of the employees, nothing was possible"

Take back the sinking Camif and forge a new, ecological and responsible destiny for it.

In 2009, that was the bet of Emery Jacquillat, who had already founded Matelsom, an online mattress sales company.

From the venerable teachers' cooperative, he made a home improvement company, attached to French manufacturing (78% of its turnover today).

“Everything had to be reinvented and infused with a new corporate culture.

Without the commitment of employees, nothing was possible, ”

explains the entrepreneur.

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When he moved Matelsom's headquarters from Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) to Niort (Deux-Sèvres) in 2010 to bring his two companies together, a third of the 50 employees who followed him were former Camif (which lost its article coming back to life).

“I felt so much the need to forge links between old and new, to find something that brings us together, that I had the somewhat crazy idea, while we were all underwater, to invite an artist in residence for three months, ”he

says.

The incomprehension of the employees was total the first month.

The third, the artist hits the mark and the experience was acclaimed.

But it is above all the responsible path chosen by Camif that will forge the new corporate culture.

"It is a formidable lever of engagement",

observes the boss of this SME labeled B Corp since 2015 and became a company with mission last year

.

In 2013, inspired by the work of researchers from the École des mines on a company with a broad social purpose, Emery Jacquillat was convinced that a company cannot aim for profit alone.

“We had to think about our reason for being together,”

he says.

Always go further

A small working group, the Cellule'Ose (now a mission committee) brings together employees, suppliers, researchers and shareholders to answer a question: what is Camif for? The answer is written in 2017: the SME chooses a reason for being and makes radical choices. For example, it initiates a collaborative approach with publishers, French manufacturers and specialists in the circular economy to design products in accordance with its principles.

She closes her site on Black Friday, a symbol of hyperconsumption.

“It was the employees who voted for this decision,”

recalls Emery Jacquillat.

To deprive oneself of the best day of sales on the internet was

 courageous ”,

admits this former HEC.

But he is delighted, since, that the debate on responsible consumption is gaining momentum.

In the end, Camif's online turnover did not suffer for long (with 44% growth in 2020).

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On the logistics side, Camif has gradually eliminated all plastic packaging.

To be able to launch the first fully reusable packaging, it even integrated a start-up.

Priority to Made in France

Initiatives have multiplied.

Léa, household linen product manager, found an Esat workshop (disabled workers) competent in

upcycling

or

upcycling,

which consists of using the recyclable material as it is.

It gives a second life to the company's mismatched unsold products: for example, duvet covers that no longer have matching pillows.

“Giving yourself a mission means having a clear roadmap and that frees management a lot.

"

Emery Jacquillat

Watchword? Always go further. After giving priority to “made in France”, Camif has just removed from its offer all products that are not manufactured in Europe. They already accounted for less than 5% of sales, but the move forced product managers to look for alternatives.

“Giving yourself a mission means having a clear roadmap and that frees management a lot. The employees have taken the subject in hand and are investing at a level of detail that I could never have reached myself, ”

summarizes Emery Jacquillat, who is also president of the Community of enterprises with mission.

This does not exempt from maintaining the flame. On Tuesday, the 90 employees meet, even if it is still, because of the Covid, largely virtually. This is the meeting where the objectives for 2025, inspired by the company's mission, are set out in operational mode. The

team building

as inspiration.

Last year, employees picked up waste for a day in the port of La Rochelle.

This echoed the collaboration initiated with a Niort supplier who produces mattresses from plastic removed from the oceans.

Half of the employees recruited last year are under 25,

underlines Emery Jacquillat.

These young people are sometimes even more committed because they have chosen to come to us for the meaning that the company gives to its action

.

"

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