in 2035, home meal delivery will represent the company’s primary activity

Philippe Wahl, general director of La Poste, was interviewed by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday April 10, the group is reinventing itself and turning to home meal delivery. The idea is original and it is part of the strategic plan prepared by La Poste for the next decade. Philippe Wahl recalls some data. In 1990, 70% of La Poste’s turnover came from mail. This rate decreases sharply each year and will barely reach 15% at the end of 2024.

This constant decline in mail activity for ten years – letters are replaced by emails and dematerialized invoices – has dug a hole of six billion euros in the group’s activity, the equivalent of the turnover of RATP or Dassault-Système. Untenable for La Poste, hence the transformation of its economic model to become less dependent on its mail activity. The group is now focused on parcel delivery and financial services (with the Postal Bank).

Five million meals delivered in 2023

Entrusting 65,000 postmen with the distribution of meals at home as a main activity by 2025 amounts to positioning itself in a growing sector with the aging of the population. Moreover, this diversification is already in place. Today, La Poste delivers more than 15,000 meals per day. In 2023, the group will deliver five million. La Poste intends to double the turnover from this new activity this year. Mainly aimed at seniors, this service is provided in partnership with municipal social action centers (CCAS), hospitals and specialized restaurateurs.

Meanwhile, more and more post offices are closing, much to the dismay of affected local populations. There are only 7,000 of these offices left in France, compared to 14,000 at the end of the 1990s, and they are less and less busy. In 40% of municipal postal agencies, particularly rural ones, fewer than five people go there every day.