Introduction
We had the pleasure of interviewing Sébastien Trottier, founder of Locavora.org, a platform that revolutionizes the online sale of local products.
1. Background:
Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you came to start Locavora.org?
What were the first challenges ?
Sebastien Trottier (ST): I have a degree in Computer Engineering and I worked for about 15 years in telecommunication systems engineering before getting involved in a local food hub as a volunteer and later as a director.
I took charge of the transactional website used by the food hub to sell online and I developed it further. I understood that local food hubs starting up were lacking in knowledge in the online sales space and in logistics in general.
I’ve launched an organization to offer a turnkey solution to food hubs that would allow a quick launch of an online offering of local producers for a region. I’ve named it Locavora.
2. Platform Overview:
Can you describe Locavora.org and its main features?
ST: Locavora is a Platform-as-a-Service to quickly launch a local online marketplace of regional producers through a food hub handling the deliveries. Retail customers are the main targets but it can be used by commercial buyers also.
It is based on recurring ordering windows where the orders of the customers are bundled together and transmitted to the producers at the end of the period. The producers handle their product catalog and order directly through the platform.
Producers features: Product Catalog – inventory service – orders – customer communications
Food Hub features: Management of ordering windows – pick-up locations – deliveries – orders – membership management – promotions – loyalty programs
What impact has Locavora.org had on local producers and consumers since its launch?
ST: About a dozen food hubs used the Locavora platform to quickly launch a local online sale channel for their producers. Consumers are given access to local food production, with a single pick-up location (or delivery method), while keeping a direct link to the producers.
Producer groups were able to quickly reach customers with online sales with pickup locations during the sanitary restrictions of COVID-19 using the Locavora service.
Interoperability & Integration
3. Interoperability Goals:
Why is interoperability with other platforms like lachevreetlechou.ca and duterroiralarmoire.com important for Locavora?
ST: We strive to have the various food hubs exchange with each other, especially those who share producers so that the producers only have to manage their product catalog and inventory on a single system, allowing them to concentrate on their core activities.
Also, consumers will have access to more products since the offering from many hubs will be combined.
How can interoperability benefit you?
ST: Locavora is a non profit with the goal of making local food production more accessible
How can interoperability benefit local food hubs?
ST: By giving access to more producers and more customers
Can it boost revenue?
ST: Yes, by providing access to more products to more customers
4. Beckn Protocol:
How do you see the Beckn protocol helping Locavora achieve its interoperability goals?
ST: Yes, it provides an open network architecture with clear roles that separate customer acquisition from producer acquisition. Also, the exchange protocol is well defined, with reference implementation provided and it is already deployed on a large scale in India.
5. Solid Protocol Integration:
Do you see any potential in integrating the Solid protocol with Beckn for Locavora?
ST: We’re planning to use the taxonomies defined by the Data Food Consortium to define the product type and facets of the products and If there are other areas of product definition not well covered by Beckn, we’ll use Solid as much as possible yes.
6. Technical Hurdles:
What technical challenges do you foresee in implementing these interoperability solutions?
ST: Beckn involves many nodes with complex interactions – there is still much to learn and a multitude of things that can go wrong when everything is put together.
How can they be resolved ?
ST: Planning carefully, defining clear milestones, crafting automated testing, getting help fro skilled people.
