Maud Sarda, Founder of Emmaüs' online marketplace “Label Emmaüs,” is a force to be reckoned with. A natural activist, she is deeply committed to creating a fairer, more inclusive world through a potent mix of tech innovation, social impact, and active lobbying. For Maud Sarda, the tech economy is not just about numbers and growth, it is a tool to foster humanity and equality.
In this sense, Sarda’s passion for social justice is leading her to sound the alarm against online fast-fashion giants like TEMU and SHEIN with their massive marketing budgets, low-quality, environmentally harmful products, and practices that harm the most vulnerable.
As the leader of Label Emmaüs - an online associative marketplace for quality second-hand goods - Maud Sarda is fighting back. Below, she shares her journey, vision, and the battles she’s determined to win.
Emmaüs is a historic movement founded in post-war France in 1949. Dedicated to tackling poverty and exclusion, it operates through a network of 550 communities and organizations that provide work and housing to those in need, supported by the sale of second-hand goods.
Label Emmaüs, launched in 2015 by Maud Sarda, is the digital extension of this mission. It’s a cooperative online marketplace that brings Emmaüs’s ethical, second-hand offerings to the web while maintaining the movement’s strong social values. Unlike conventional e-commerce platforms, Label Emmaüs reinvests its profits into creating jobs, offering training at its two - soon to be three schools, and empowering marginalized individuals.
Maud Sarda’s path to launching Label Emmaüs began with a love for both business and social impact. After graduating from business school, she started her career at Accenture, where she took part in a year-long placement at an association focused on public policy - l’agence nouvelle des solidarités actives - ANSA - founded by the then President of Accenture France and Emmaüs, Benoît Genuini and Martin Hirsch. It was there that she had a pivotal encounter with the Emmaüs movement.
Q: How did you come to create Label Emmaüs, and what inspired you?
“Emmaüs brought together everything I cared about: economic activity and social impacts,” she recalls. “It’s a *real* company with budgets, trucks, and thousands of people to manage, but also a social mission rooted in humanity and solidarity. I was immediately hooked.”
At her request, she joined Emmaüs France as an in-house consultant, working hands-on with over 100 local organizations to help them launch new branches, resolve governance challenges, and navigate legal and operational issues. Through this, Sarda gained a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the movement.
“I saw the rise of e-commerce with platforms like Amazon and Le Bon Coin, and I realized that Emmaüs didn’t even have an online presence. It was a huge missed opportunity.”
So, in 2015, she launched Label Emmaüs, a national digital marketplace that stayed true to the organization’s social values while modernizing its operations. The platform aimed to bring a certain number of Emmaüs’s iconic second-hand goods online, creating an inclusive and secure space for ethical shopping.
Q: What is Label Emmaüs' business model and how does it work?
“Label Emmaüs is a cooperative and solidarity-driven online marketplace for second-hand goods, operating entirely in line with Emmaüs values; social inclusion, reducing waste and helping to foster a fairer economy. The platform allows Emmaüs different physical organizations across France to sell certain of their products online while maintaining their autonomy. All revenue is reinvested into our social mission rather than distributed as profits.
Our funding is a mix of 75% from our economic activities, including sales commissions, and 25% from subsidies tied to our professional inclusion programs.
We have around 60 people at Label Emmaüs. A third of our team consists of individuals in reintegration programs, who work with us for up to two years to gain skills and transition into stable employment.
We also run two free digital training schools in Seine-Saint-Denis and Marseille, funded through corporate sponsorships and regional support which allow people to receive higher education degrees - the equivalent to bachelor's degrees. These schools train 100 people each per year, helping people build careers in e-commerce and other digital fields while reinforcing our broader mission of inclusion and sustainability. We’ve already trained about 2,000 people to date and we will open a third school in Roubaix this year".
How has Label Emmaüs evolved since its creation?
“The journey hasn’t been without its challenges. We launched in 2016 and for years, we grew by 50% year-over-year, but in 2024, for the first time, we saw an 8% drop. Part of the decline is linked to post-pandemic behavior - a return to more "normal" consumer habits perhaps - but it is also due to the rise of fierce competitors like Vinted. The second-hand market is still growing, but it’s Vinted that’s capturing almost all of that growth. Other platforms, including Selency, Vestiaire Collective, and even Le Bon Coin, are also having a hard time competing. The challenges are exacerbated by the explosion of fast-fashion brands like TEMU and SHEIN. These companies dominate online shopping with the help of enormous marketing budgets - TEMU alone spent $2 billion on Facebook ads - and a relentless focus on low prices."
22% of packages handled by La Poste come from TEMU or SHEIN. And what’s worse? Many of these products are unsafe or toxic, yet nothing is being done to stop them."
Q: What’s your strategy for pushing back against these trends?
"We're doing what we can on a ground level but change also needs to come from the top. I spend a lot of time pushing for systemic change, meeting with government officials to ask for stricter regulations on fast fashion and greater support for cooperatives like Label Emmaüs. I speak regularly with the French Treasury and other decision-makers to highlight the harm caused by brands like TEMU and SHEIN.
We banned WISH for selling toxic products: we should be able to do the same with TEMU and SHEIN. The fact that we’re not taking action is unacceptable”.
Otherwise, we’re working to modernize and grow while staying true to our values. Label Emmaüs is investing in generative AI tools for example to help sellers create listings faster and improve the platform’s overall user experience.
Visibility is also a key issue that we're working hard on: the more people that hear about what our mission, what we're offering and why it can benefit them from a consumer and an environmental point of view while helping society as a whole, the more support we can gain.
Q: What keeps you motivated in such a challenging landscape?
“As I see it, we don’t really have a choice. This isn’t just about the survival of a business; it’s about justice and survival as a whole. We’re fighting for a fairer world where second-hand goods are valued and everyone has access to high-quality, sustainable options. I’ve been reaching out to other players like Selency and Smala to coordinate joint campaigns and share best practices. We need to act together to make our voices heard.
“We’ve partnered with ambassadors like the singer Zao de Sagazan, who wore Emmaüs ensembles on the red carpet. Initiatives like these help spread our message and inspire others to join us.”
Q: What’s next for Label Emmaüs?
“We’re planning to expand our training programs, grow our online presence, and continue lobbying for a more ethical economy. There’s so much potential to make a difference, and we’re not stopping now. We need everyone - government, businesses, and individuals - to step up and take responsibility. Together, we can and must work towards creating an economy that’s fair, inclusive, and sustainable".
