Stéphane Burgatt, edited by Yanis Darras 08:17, December 01, 2022, modified at 08:21, December 01, 2022

In Marseille, the 14th arrondissement is celebrating the opening of a new fast food restaurant.

Baptized "l'après M", this fast-food restaurant displays a particularity: its solidarity ambition.

Integration project for the inhabitants of the district, "l'après M" also wants to help local residents in need, by offering a food bank in its parking lot. 

It's a burger with a particular taste: that of revenge.

In the northern districts of Marseille, McDonald's in the city of Saint-Barthélemy will not disappear.

However in 2019, when the commercial court signed the judicial liquidation of the fast food restaurant, there was not much time left before the premises of the famous M jaune disappeared from the map of the district. 

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50 employees from January 2023

And if three years later, the sign of the American giant has disappeared, its premises are still standing.

Thanks to the town hall of the 14th arrondissement which bought the land, a solidarity fast-food is born: "after M".

"It's symbolic for us, it's an honor. I tell myself that, with a valiant heart, nothing is impossible", underlines the new director Kamel Guemari at the microphone of Europe 1.

The former McDonald's employee is now signing the first contracts to ensure the smooth running of his restaurant. 

For the moment, 23 employees will launch the adventure, very quickly joined by dozens of others.

"After M" is targeting 50 employees by January 2023. All will be supervised by former MacDonald's employees, who will initially keep their volunteer caps.

Because before being a fast food restaurant, the project is above all an integration project.

A welcome boost in this neighborhood affected by unemployment and poverty. 

"It makes us very happy"

"Before, I was a courier and now I make sandwiches", explains Ahmed proudly.

"What makes me happy is to participate in the project. It's a good initiative and it makes us very happy," he says.

And to help the inhabitants of the city next door, a food bank stands behind the parking lot of the restaurant.

Operating in a closed circuit, it will be supplied by the profits of the restaurant. 

"Our mutual aid village is currently made up of a large refrigerated container and containers for stocking up" and serving people, notes Fathi Bouaroua, former regional director of the Abbé-Pierre Foundation.

A project that appeals to local residents, since nearly 500 people benefit each week from these food parcels.