Tristan Lecomte

About Tristan Lecomte

Tristan Lecomte, Founder and President of Alter Eco, created the company in 1998, after having worked as a management controller and auditor for the L’Oréal group. Solidarity and the environment were already two priority themes during his studies in France (HEC) and Brazil (Fundação Getulio Vargas) and took on a concrete dimension when he founded the association ‘Solidarité France-Népal’. As a young graduate, he chose the classic and formative path of a large corporation. But the desire to have a real social utility, to share values, and to work in accordance with his convictions led him to create Alter Eco. He opened a small associative shop in 1998, a second store, and then a website shortly after. He joined the Sustainable Development department of PricewaterhouseCoopers to develop audit tools for fair trade supply chains. He launched the methodology (FTA 200©) which allows for precise evaluation of the impact and challenges of fair trade supply chains in developing countries. In 2001, the decision was made to close the sales spaces whose operating costs were too high, a business model that was not viable and whose returns for producers did not meet his aspirations. He concluded that it was necessary to specialize in a few products, maximize the outlets for small producers to increase the impact of fair trade in developing countries, and allow the greatest number of people to access products from fair trade. Focusing on a more limited and targeted number of supply chains allows for better integration of the development challenges of these organizations. Driven by the desire to go well beyond a simple commercial activity and true to Alter Eco’s commitment to development education, Tristan Lecomte also shares his experience and enthusiasm during conferences, in the courses he teaches, or through his works dedicated to fair trade. His pragmatic approach to sustainable development, international solidarity, and environmental protection, along with his expert discourse on these subjects, enables him to convince numerous leaders, organizations, and companies to adopt a comprehensive vision of their activity in respect of humanity and our environment. Tristan Lecomte has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos and is a board member of the Chirac Foundation for Peace, where he collaborates on projects related to biodiversity and sustainable development. He is an adjunct professor at HEC on social entrepreneurship and fair trade. He also founded Pur Projet in 2008, specializing in the assessment and compensation of CO2 emissions (Guarantee ‘Zero Carbon Goal’) through the implementation of reforestation programs. It is on this project and its complementarity with the development of disadvantaged producers in developing countries that he was named an Ashoka Fellow in September 2009.

He was also named in 2010 by the American magazine Time among the 100 most influential people in the world.