Pierre Pereira Da Silva, 36 years old, has been leading Foozo since 2017, the Luxembourg market leader in smart fridges, also offering digitalized meal allocation services, catering, and office meal delivery.
Foozo is a team of 60 passionate employees serving 50,000 end-users in B2C and 60 corporate clients in B2B, with an annualized turnover of 5 million euros to date and a 90% customer satisfaction rate.
From Rio to Luxembourg: an unconventional entrepreneurial journey leading to success
After being selected to join a French university in Rio, Pierre flew to Paris at the age of 17 with his parents’ approval, still a minor. Arriving alone in the French capital, he had to work twice as hard to bridge the educational gap between Brazil and France. His determination paid off as he earned his economics degree from the Sorbonne, followed by a master’s degree in law and energy economics, aligning with his then-goal of working in renewable energy.
In 2011, he chose Luxembourg for his six-month end-of-study internship at an investment fund specializing in this field. He remained there for seven years, investing in renewable energy assets—solar parks, wind farms—across seven European countries, until the fund was sold to Total-Eren, a joint venture of the Total group.
Then, he faced two choices: stay in Luxembourg or explore new horizons. With his wife, they chose the Grand Duchy, drawn by its quality of life, safety, and favorable entrepreneurial environment.
“Generally, we Brazilians take innate pleasure in providing the best service to people, bringing them joy. The food sector is a very noble way to achieve this by offering them the most impactful way to take care of themselves daily. It was, therefore, an obvious choice for me to embark on this adventure,” Pierre begins.
“Customer commitment is our top priority […] Foozo was born, linking the food universe with the idea of speed.”
Foozo: from individual delivery to a comprehensive corporate offer, an unwavering sense of service
“Friends approached me with a foodtech concept, then called Grouplunch, focused on office meal delivery—a purely B2C activity. They already had an established company and clients, but at an early stage. We experienced strong growth. Then, COVID-19 completely disrupted work habits and our business model. With an 80% revenue drop between the Saturday when the lockdown was announced and the Monday when we returned to the office, the shock was brutal. We wouldn’t have survived this crisis without strong support from BGL BNP Paribas, the Luxembourg government, and our investors.
Flexibility and modularity became imperative for post-COVID businesses. Addressing these needs was a matter of survival,” Pierre explains.
Rather than being discouraged, the team reacted quickly and innovated, developing offers directly responding to client demands and adapting to new professional constraints.
“In Japanese and Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ consists of two ideograms: ‘Wei’ (danger) and ‘Ji’ (opportunity). I find this very meaningful because this extreme crisis allowed us to seize great opportunities and bounce back.”
Without it, I might not have personally met 50 clients to ask about their biggest challenges. We then created a series of B2B products addressing this need for flexibility, perfectly suited to this new world, and playing a key role in our growth,” he continues.
With the corporate catering market undergoing a major transformation, Foozo offers three B2B solutions, growing at 100% per year:
- FoozoMarket: Smart fridges installed in companies, easy to use, providing employees with a variety of ultra-fresh meals prepared in-house for total traceability. The product is designed for an unbeatable quality-price ratio, with an average price of 6 euros per dish and no meal exceeding 10 euros.
- FoozoPlus: Foozo’s digitalized meal allocation system, similar to meal vouchers, allowing employers to offer meals at lower costs, with no extra fees and simplified management. Companies can save an average of 30% on employee meal budgets compared to competing solutions.
- FoozoCatering: Custom catering services for business meetings and corporate events.
“Customer commitment is our top priority. So much so that in 2021, when we rebranded from Grouplunch to Foozo, we submitted 30 potential names to a vote by 40,000 clients. About 10% participated, which we consider an excellent engagement level. Foozo was born, linking the food universe with the idea of speed,” he confides.
Flexible solutions adapted to new work models
“In the past, a company with 300 employees could create a cafeteria and make it profitable. Today, with office real estate costs, inflation in ingredient and utility prices, and fluctuating cafeteria attendance due to hybrid work models, this has become very challenging. A company now needs at least 1,000 on-site employees for a cafeteria to be viable. One of our clients planned a cafeteria for their 700 employees but abandoned the idea in favor of our smart fridges, saving around 35,000 euros per month,” Pierre explains.
With the rise of remote work and flexible schedules, companies are increasingly reluctant to invest in costly, hard-to-maintain traditional cafeterias. Foozo provides a pragmatic solution: a flexible, intelligent catering service that adapts to employees’ real needs.
Using an optimized algorithm, the company continuously adjusts its offer based on user preferences and consumption volumes. The goal is simple: ensure maximum variety and freshness while minimizing waste. Today, preservative-free, additive-free meals are produced just-in-time, with only 12 to 24 hours between preparation and availability in smart fridges.
“[…] ‘Apparently, you’re the go-to for office food solutions in Luxembourg.’ What better reward? That’s why we do this.”
A meteoric success and an ambitious vision
With over 50 smart fridges installed and 15,000 active B2B users, Foozo is experiencing exponential growth. The B2B segment, which currently accounts for 25% of revenue, is expected to reach 50% by 2027. The group’s strategic goal is clear: double annual revenue and continue innovating to meet the expectations of businesses and their employees.
Customer service is a key success factor for Foozo. With 8,087 ratings and a 90% satisfaction rate, the company continuously improves the user experience. Each user can rate their meal and leave a comment, ensuring ongoing product enhancement.
“In well-operated traditional on-site cafeterias, satisfaction rates peak at 60% in the best cases. The 30% gap compared to our 90% average stems from our extreme attentiveness to customer feedback. If satisfaction isn’t met, we implement immediate changes—often within 24 hours. Every action we take is guided by customer satisfaction, and our B2B clients appreciate this because it’s rare in Luxembourg,” Pierre explains.
A vision focused on innovation and sustainability
While growth remains strong, Foozo remains committed to sustainability, limiting its carbon footprint through local, responsible production without additives or preservatives. Additionally, digitalization simplifies administrative management and reduces costs for corporate clients.
With such momentum, Foozo has become an essential player in Luxembourg’s corporate catering landscape. Ambition, innovation, and an acute sense of service: these are the key ingredients behind its ever-growing success.
“Recently, an international client planning to open offices in Luxembourg and hire 50 employees reached out, saying, ‘Apparently, you’re the go-to for office food solutions in Luxembourg.’ What better reward? That’s why we do this,” Pierre concludes.
