Who are we ?

Aline and Johan, tell us about your journey to the creation of Happy Officine

Aline : We both have a background off the beaten track. Johan is an autodidact who interests everything. From horticulture to IT via events, he is a jack-of-all-trades passionate about travel, human sciences, history, photography...

Johan : My background is also atypical, multidisciplinary (and undisciplined!). I created my first activity at 19 and worked in a wide variety of fields before becoming interested in responsible consumption, natural products and more particularly cosmetics.

How did your interest in responsible consumption come about?

Johan : My attention was drawn by the composition of the products of daily use for the kitchen as for hygiene. I started looking for responsible brands for my personal use, but I quickly realized the complexity of finding the products that I liked.

Aline : I have long been torn between pleasure and reasonableness, stressed by the guilt caused by my way of consuming and by the sometimes totally illogical behavior of consumers, me first! I am a normal woman, with life habits that sometimes aren't perfect or full of contradictions, but the desire to become more and more responsible and aware of my consumption. I don't want to feel guilty if I buy this or that product, and above all, I want to keep the pleasure!

What is the genesis of Happy Officine?

Aline : As I like aesthetics and have always been attracted by the world of beauty, I became interested in the labels of hygiene and beauty products. I quickly fell from the top when I discovered the compositions and I started to draw up a blacklist for my personal use… I feel really fed up with remaining spectators of the gradual destruction of our planet. Tired of plastic, of being fooled, of polluting, of buying fakes! So I wanted to share my discoveries and experiences and get involved in my own way.

John: We have no vocation to save humanity alone, but we are attentive on the subject.

In addition, I need to have a professional activity that makes sense, that brings me pleasure and is not a race for profitability that makes you do anything. I am vigilant about working conditions and not ready to do anything to earn a living.

You have just had a baby, what world do you dream of for him?

John: Like all parents, we want our son to be happy. But above all to make him understand that true happiness is not material happiness, but self-fulfillment, balance, joy. A comprehensive approach that is much more important to us than social status or financial success.

Aline : I would like him to be able to “eat clean, breathe clean, and consume clean”! That he is invested in nature and that he has the choice to consume as he wants without feeling guilty. That he is a bit of a philosopher and psychologist, which would allow him to face life more calmly...

You are a Franco-Swiss couple. Why did you choose Switzerland as your home port?

Aline : We met in Paris where we lived for a while. Our respective families have their origins in England and Holland for Johan as well as in Normandy, Alsace and Switzerland for me. Returning to Switzerland for family reasons, we greatly appreciate the kindness and politeness of the people, respect for nature, cleanliness, calm. Our life, like our food choices, are simpler, always organic and we eat mostly local and seasonal.