François Debus, restaurateur, started selling CBD.

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M.Libert / 20 Minutes

  • A restaurant serving regional specialties becomes a shop for CBD products.

  • Without activity due to the coronavirus crisis, the boss of the establishment decided to retrain temporarily to try to make a living.

  • Instead of welshs or Flemish carbonades, we now find herbal teas, oils or even hemp drinks and chocolate.

From Flemish carbonade to hemp herbal tea.

Needless to say, the coronavirus epidemic has wreaked havoc in the ranks of restaurant owners.

Many have resigned themselves to squeezing their buttocks while waiting for it to pass, trying to survive thanks to government aid.

Some have tried other modes of operation with varying degrees of success.

François Debus, the boss of a regional specialty establishment based in Villeneuve d'Ascq, near Lille, had another idea.

He turned his restaurant into a CBD stall.

When François Debus bought the establishment in 2014, business was going well.

Very well even.

With its large sign, widely visible from the main boulevard connecting Lille to Roubaix, “Au Ch'Ti” had a full house every lunchtime: “It was mainly a clientele of professionals, companies established in the district”, recalls the manager.

And when the coronavirus epidemic landed, everything stopped overnight, the restaurateur never having considered taking out take-out.

"It is thanks to my wife's teacher's salary that we could get by"

“On the restart, until October, it was also very difficult.

I lost a third of my tables and many teleworking customers no longer came, ”he laments.

Au Ch'Ti did try to sell to take away during the second confinement, but the test was not transformed: "With more or less five orders per day, charges payable, I was losing money. 'silver.

It was thanks to my wife's school teacher's salary that we could get by, ”admits the restaurateur.

Three weeks ago, François Debus had the idea to radically change direction, temporarily at least, by starting to sell cannabidiol.

Also called CBD, it is a cannabinoid found in cannabis but lacking in THC.

“These are products that I knew, I used to take them against anxiety,” he explains.

Not even need to create a new company, that of the restaurant allows him to practice related activities in connection with the restoration.

Do not play on ambiguity with cannabis

François Debus is not going to revolutionize the CBD business, the products he offers are after all classics: oils, herbal teas, flowers, chocolate… On the other hand, he does not intend to play on ambiguity with “real” cannabis.

“I'm talking about well-being, relaxation, hemp.

The image of cannabis can be anxious for people who know the establishment, ”supposes the manager.

Its CBD shop opened on Saturday and has already attracted around fifteen consumers.

For the rest, the restaurateur-seller waits to see.

“If I can resume my normal activity soon, maybe I will continue selling CBD.

It depends on whether it works well and how it will be perceived by customers, ”he slips.

Anyway, very smart the one who knows what tomorrow will bring.

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  • Coronavirus

  • Villeneuve d'Ascq

  • Restaurant

  • Lille