Early Sparks of Change

Tristan’s first taste of social entrepreneurship came as a student, founding an NGO in Nepal that still operates today. “We built improved cooking stoves, taught gardening, and worked in rural villages. That experience showed me I could be entrepreneurial and useful at the same time.” After a short stint at L’Oréal, he realized corporate life was not for him. “Making investors richer wasn’t satisfying. I wanted purpose.” A magazine article on fair trade handed to him by his sister became the turning point. He launched Alter Eco, a food company specializing in fair trade products, in 1998, at a time when only 0.5% of French people had even heard of fair trade. The early years were brutal—failed shops, a failed website, near bankruptcy. But persistence paid off. By 2002, supermarkets began stocking Alter Eco products, and sales grew rapidly. “I knew it was what I had to do, even when nothing worked,” Tristan recalls.

Serendipity as Compass

Each of Tristan’s ventures emerged from unexpected opportunities. Planting trees with cocoa suppliers led to PUR, a regenerative agroforestry company, pioneering carbon offsetting. 

A client’s question about ocean plastic sparked Second Life, ocean plastic recycling enterprise, supporting local collectors in recycling.

“Serendipity is about listening to signs,” he says. “You have to be intuitive, receptive. Suddenly everyone talks to you about trees, or plastic, or something you feel drawn to. That’s how you find your destiny.”

Planting trees with cocoa suppliers led to PUR, a regenerative agroforestry company
Tristan Lecomte

Lessons from the Field

Working with small-scale farmers across 80 countries has been Tristan’s greatest source of inspiration. “They are poor, disadvantaged, hit by climate change and unfair trade rules—yet they remain hopeful. That gap between hardship and hope has always motivated me.” He emphasizes that true success lies not in external achievements but in persistence. “Success doesn’t exist as a final state. It’s just solving the next problem. 

As long as you fight, you’re successful.” His involvement in impact funds like 50 Partners Impact has shown him the value of larger, more animated communities. “Entrepreneurs don’t need constant coaching. They need light-touch support—connections, a few calls, encouragement. That’s enough.”

Tristan Lecomte

A Call for Inner Transformation

Looking ahead, Tristan sees sustainability in crisis, with polarization and disengagement undermining progress. 

He believes the narrative must shift from constraint to fulfilment. 

“It’s not about telling people what they should do. It’s about showing that sustainability makes us happier, more human. It’s a spiritual movement, not just an environmental one.”