Tristan Lecomte

Biography

Born in Reims, France, in 1973, Tristan Lecomte holds business degrees from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Paris and the Fondation Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo. Shortly after completing his studies, he was offered a position at Lancôme, the cosmetic company, and later went to South Korea while working for the L’Oréal group. Upon his return to France, he held a position that allowed him to travel, but he quickly noticed that he enjoyed being abroad more than at home.

He undertook humanitarian work, notably for Solidarité France Népal, an organization that he cofounded in 1995 whose aim is to find ways of stopping deforestation in that Himalayan country. He later became interested in fair trade and created, in 1998, Alter Eco, a company whose mission is to import and distribute fair-trade products.