Le Comptoir Français du Thé is a company whose business isdesigning, creating, producing, and supplyingrecipes for teas and herbal teas for professionals. Although the company is small (with around 20 employees in France), every day, in France and around the world, thousands of teas bearing the Comptoir Français du Thé label are consumed.
For over 40 years, Comptoir Français du Thé has been passionately producing, processing, and blending the finest teas for retailers. The company has chosen to develop a network of resellers rather than selling directly to consumers. As a result, its customers and partners are tea specialists, roasters, grocers, wine merchants, and restaurateurs.
The expression of a creative tea house that strives for excellence
Le Comptoir Français du Thé stands out for the high quality and service it offers in its recipes. Its motto is: "The manufacturer committed to the pleasure of French-style tea." To set itself apart from its competitors, the company champions the values of inventiveness, creativity, and French expertise in tea. This commitment is demonstrated, defended, and realized through exceptional partnerships, as illustrated by its recent collaboration with renowned chef Nina METAYER, who was voted best pastry chef of the year in 2016 by Le Chef magazine and in 2017 by the Gault et Millau guide, before being voted the world's best pastry chef in 2023, a title awarded by the International Union of Bakers and Pastry Chefs!
This collaborative project is above all a wonderful human adventure between a brilliant pastry chef and an inventive tea company. A convergence of expertise, values, and a beautiful partnership dedicated to creating a "Tea and Pastry" moment that strives for gustatory excellence. Driven by the pursuit of excellence, Comptoir Français du Thé's production site in Alsace is IFS FOOD V7 Higher Level certified, the highest level of this international standard for food products. The selection of ingredients, as well as rigorous processes and controls, enable Comptoir Français du Thé to offer its partners products of the highest quality.
Providing ever more services to partners
Reseller customers of Comptoir Français du Thé products are first and foremost partners. The company, founded by a retailer, remains deeply committed to the concept of service and does everything in its power to provide the highest quality service to its customers, who are in direct contact with consumers. That is why, when Comptoir Français du Thé's partners asked it to find a more intuitive and user-friendly invoicing solution—from Comptoir Français du Thé to its resellers— the company sought a solution and a trusted technology partner to digitize a large volume of invoices. This view is confirmed by Gilles WERLÉ, Deputy CEO of Comptoir Français du Thé:
Our partner customers need an easily accessible solution. Time savings and ease of storage are key criteria for resellers. I would add that our customers and we are also very committed to the concept of data protection. Knowing that their data remains in France for security and sovereignty reasons is paramount.
The company, through its parent company SALPA (Société Alsacienne de Participations Agro-alimentaires), has chosen the electronic invoicing solution from the Docoon Group – Docoon Invoice – the future Partner Dematerialization Platform (PDP) * as part of the electronic invoicing reform. With this implementation, Le Comptoir Français du Thé is facilitating and improving the administrative management of its partners, a bonus that reinforces the company's desire to provide ever more services to its reseller partners.
Invoice digitization = Decarbonization
The digitization of Comptoir Français du Thé's invoices to its partners is also in line with the company's commitment to decarbonization. Traditional invoicing can generate a ton of paper waste; electronic invoicing reduces paper use while maintaining efficient invoicing. In addition, electronic files and digital archiving systems also save space. This opinion is shared by Gilles WERLÉ:
We are convinced that the concept of providing additional services to customers is entirely compatible with the challenge of decarbonization. Downstream, we are rolling out electric vehicle delivery solutions in pilot cities. Upstream, for some time now, goods have been collected from our warehouse using vehicles that generate 25% less GHG emissions and 97% fewer fine particles. We favor local suppliers whenever possible: cardboard manufacturers, printers, etc. So yes, switching to electronic invoicing for our partners is fully in line with these actions.
And to add:
At the local level, there is a program called Start CSR that supports innovative SMEs in environmental initiatives. As part of this, we have invested in LED lighting, for example, which improves visual comfort for our office teams and, above all, consumes much less energy.
Finally, Le Comptoir Français du Thé and Docoon are both champions of Made in France, a common ground that gives even more meaning to the business relationship established by the two companies.
Docoon, a trusted digital publisher for decades, would like to thank Le Comptoir Français du Thé and SALPA for their trust and is proud to contribute to accelerating the digitization of Comptoir Français du Thé's digital services, thereby meeting the demands of its partners, who are keen to move towards a trusted solution that will save them time.
* Since the publication of this article, Docoon has received its temporary registration as a Partner Dematerialization Platform from the French Public Finance Directorate under number 19.
