They once bore scented billets-doux to eager lovers and delivered letters from far-flung relatives, but email and mobile phones have left France’s postmen and women searching for a new role.
The country’s state-owned post office now believes its future lies in reinventing itself as a food delivery service. “By 2035, I think meal deliveries will be the top activity for postal workers,” Philippe Wahl, the head of La Poste, told a Senate committee this week.
Rather than competing with the likes of Deliveroo or Uber Eats to deliver takeaways, the post office is developing a premium meals-on-wheels service for older people.
Postal workers already make 10 per cent of home food deliveries in France, working with community centres, hospitals and caterers to bring meals to some 15,000 mainly elderly people each day.
Given the ageing population, post office managers hope that expanding the service can rescue it from the decline in letter-writing and competition from private parcel carriers.
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Mail and parcel deliveries are projected to fall to just 15 per cent of its business by the end of this year, compared with 70 per cent in 1990.
“If meal deliveries can be increased, we may succeed in keeping France’s 65,000 postmen and women employed, even when there are no more letters,” Wahl said.
Nearly half of France’s post offices, especially those in villages, average fewer than five customers a day, and many face closure. The number of branches has halved over the past 25 years to 7,000 and La Poste’s revenue has fallen by €6 billion in the past decade.
Meal deliveries are just the latest idea that managers have come up with to adapt to changing times. For example, customers at some French post offices could be forgiven for thinking a bright yellow version of the Tardis had landed at their local branch.
In fact, the new telephone box-like structures are changing booths for people who buy clothes online and get them delivered to a post office. They can try them on immediately and, if necessary, send them back. The booths, equipped with mirrors, are painted the traditional canary yellow of La Poste.
