Interview with Melvin Phelipot, warehouse manager, and Oskar Melki, customer manager at Hive – Paris region
At Hive, nothing is left to chance. From product inspection to the preparation and shipping of Jack Meal orders, every step counts. Beyond logistics, there are also human and environmental choices: working as a team, tackling challenges together, minimizing waste, avoiding unnecessary plastic, and reducing unnecessary transportation.
1. Melvin, can you tell us about your background and what made you want to work in logistics?
During my academic career, I had the opportunity to complete several internships in logistics, particularly in the transport of works of art and the transfer of live animals between zoos and sanctuaries. These experiences marked the beginning of my involvement in this field.
I then joined Amazon for five years, within an extremely robust supply chain. These years were very formative, both professionally — managing operations handling up to 50,000 packages per day, managing teams of 100 to 350 employees — and personally, where I learned a lot about leadership and adaptability.
2. At Hive, you work with impact brands. How does this change your approach to the profession?
Working with impact brands profoundly transforms our approach. Beyond operational performance, we have an additional responsibility: to live up to the social and environmental commitments of our partners.
We exercise heightened vigilance at every stage to guarantee product integrity and ensure that the customer experience reflects the brand's enduring values. This involves constant dialogue, high responsiveness, and meticulous execution.
Every detail counts: compliance, quality, precision. Logistics is often the last link visible to the end customer — it must be flawless.
3. Reducing plastic and over-packaging is a real challenge. How do you address it on a daily basis?
At Hive, this challenge is addressed in a structured and collaborative way. We have a department dedicated to packaging and transport. Its mission: to identify and source more environmentally friendly solutions, such as recycled materials or alternatives to plastic.
This department also works with our carriers to promote more sustainable delivery solutions: electric vehicles, optimized loading, reduction of empty journeys.
This approach — innovation, collaboration and responsibility — allows us to integrate sustainability at the heart of our operations.
4. What is your philosophy when it comes to preparing an order?
Preparing an order means preparing a package the way we would like to receive it. We pay particular attention to the quality of the packaging to protect the products throughout the logistics process. We strictly follow each brand's guidelines so that the unboxing experience accurately reflects its identity.
To achieve this, we invest heavily in training: care, precision, attention to detail.
5. How do you manage to reconcile logistical performance and environmental/human impact?
We strive to achieve a responsible balance. This involves optimizing packaging, using recycled materials, working with less polluting carriers, but also paying constant attention to the safety and well-being of our teams.
We celebrate progress with our partners and take responsibility for measuring our impact, to move towards more ethical and sustainable practices.
6. What role does the human element play in your team and in your management style?
I consider myself a people manager . People are at the center: from the order picker to the supervisor, everyone is part of the same collective. If one link in the chain encounters a difficulty, the whole team mobilizes.
At Hive, these values are strong: involvement of teams in operational decisions, integration of interns and apprentices, diversity and mix in our warehouses as well as at the Berlin headquarters, where many nationalities coexist and enrich exchanges.
7. In your opinion, what are the next challenges to making logistics even more sustainable?
The challenges are numerous: further integrating circularity, promoting the local economy to reduce transport, and continuing innovation towards cleaner solutions. It's a long road, but the major players in the sector have a key role to play in driving the entire industry forward.
8. If there was one thing you would want the public to know about your profession, what would it be?
Logistics jobs are often undervalued, despite their essential role. Teams do tremendous work to ensure every customer has a quality experience. These unsung heroes deserve greater recognition for the value they bring.
9. Finally, if you had to sum up Jack Meal in one word?
Virtuous.
