Summary

The global contract catering market, particularly the foodservice sector, demonstrated resilience and adaptability post-2020, with a recovery observed in France where sales reached €6.27 billion in 2023, bouncing back from a significant 28.5% drop in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The European market leads globally with 33% of the market share. Consumers have exhibited a preference for healthier and costlier meals (69%), driving the industry towards organic product offerings, evidenced by 65% of establishments offering such options in 2019 and a noticeable increase in organic purchases across different sectors, particularly education at 14%. However, operational challenges persist with an inflationary trend visible in meal prices, as indicated by the "Other catering services" output price index rising to 111 by the end of 2023. Employment in the sector was severely affected, losing 893,000 jobs due to the pandemic. The French market is highly concentrated with just three companies holding over 70% of the market share, and despite economic headwinds, companies like Elior and Sodexo experienced significant sales growth in 2023, at 60.63% and 6.17% respectively..#### Trends in the Contract Catering Market in France The contract catering market in France exhibits a dynamic character and operates under two main management paradigms: direct management and concessional management, with our focus on the latter. This particular segment has been predicted to experience consistent growth, with an average annual growth rate of about 3.3% anticipated between the years 2023 and 2032. Offering over 7 billion meals annually within the foodservice sector, France's market demonstrates a significant level of concentration with three main companies controlling over 70% of the market share. The market caters to diverse sectors including medico-social and healthcare, school, corporate, and prison and military sectors. The demand analysis within the French foodservice market highlights four primary sectors. The healthcare and medical-social sector claims the largest proportion, with around 45% of the market share, signifying the crucial role of food services in healthcare establishments. The school catering sector follows with nearly 34%, with company and prison and military catering having relatively minor shares of about 10% and 11%, respectively. In gauging customer interaction with the contract catering market, almost 46% of French individuals report engagement with the sector. This indicates the food service market's substantial impact on daily French life through varied institutions such as schools, companies, and healthcare facilities. User preferences evidently tend toward prioritizing higher-quality meals, with nearly 69% of respondents favoring quality over cost. Customer expectations are evolving, particularly influenced by the emergence of the health crisis and shifts in work patterns. There's a growing emphasis on the social aspect of dining, the quality and sourcing of food, and adaptability to new work paradigms like telecommuting. Companies operating within this market present varied positioning strategies. While some concentrate on personalization and innovation, others focus on the provenance and sustainability of their offerings. Notably, the use of organic and sustainable products is on the rise with schools and administration/corporate sectors leading the trend. Around 65% of collective catering establishments are now integrating organic products into their menus. The economic landscape has not shielded the sector from challenges. Inflationary pressures have resulted in an uptick in production costs, leading to a rise in consumer prices as well—an index increase is observed from about 105.53 to around 111.76 between January 2022 and January 2023. Businesses have flagged concerns over rising food, energy, and employee wages. Regulatory factors affecting the contract catering market in France include hygiene standards.### Profiling the Heavyweights of the Contract Catering Industry As the contract catering landscape adapts to shifting market demands and consumer expectations, several key players stand out for their influence and distinctive strategies. These industry titans have carved niches for themselves, setting the standard in both operation scale and service differentiation in the rapidly evolving sector. #### Sodexo: The Pinnacle of Culinary Expertise and Diversified Services Sodexo, a French multinational, is renowned for its commitment to delivering an authentic culinary experience coupled with a diverse array of choices. With a vast workforce that extends across dozens of countries, Sodexo taps into the expertise of gifted chefs to serve up healthy and responsibly sourced meals. Their global reach and devote care to crafting a dining experience that's both nutritious and satisfying make them a formidable presence in the industry. #### Elior: Crafting Creative Menus with Sustainability at Heart Elior stands as a beacon of creativity and innovation in the contract catering scene. The company takes pride in curating delightful menus that are both safe to consume and environmentally conscious. Beyond just serving food, Elior positions itself as a champion of workforce welfare and ecological respect. Their significant service footprint across French schools, businesses, and healthcare establishments reflects their deep entrenchment as a versatile industry provider. #### Compass Group: The Art of a Tailored Dining Experience The Compass Group distinguishes itself with its penchant for a personalized touch. By crafting a custom culinary experience that's tailored to the preferences of its clients, Compass Group's specialized brands pull out all stops to bring memorable dining to businesses, healthcare facilities, schools, and local authorities. Their sizable workforce and extensive reach in meal services underscore their success in meeting diverse dietary needs with finesse and artistry. #### Restalliance: The Human Touch in Healthcare Catering Restalliance brings a unique human dimension to contract catering, particularly within healthcare establishments. The company prides itself on its independence and high standards that underscore its offerings. With special attention paid to product quality, freshness, and seasonality, Restalliance has carved out a significant niche where the focus on care and quality shines through in every meal they serve. #### Arpège: Luxurious Corporate Catering with Range of Services With a heritage of three decades, Arpège caters to the premium corporate market while extending its services to encompass a broad spectrum that includes food courts and event services. Their offering speaks to a clientele that values a mix of luxury and convenience, providing flexibility and diversity to meet the fast-paced demands

the contract catering market - France

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Number of pages : 30 pages
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Last update : 25/04/2024

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Summary and extracts

1 Market overview

1.1 Introduction and scope of the study

Contract catering is an industry that prepares and distributes meals within communities, companies or public institutions. It differs from commercial catering in that its moderate prices are partly paid by the employer and not entirely by the customer. The sector's manufacturers are the producers and suppliers of meals and, where applicable, labor. [Contract catering]

The market is divided into two main types of CRS management: direct management on the one hand, where the client organization manages the catering, teams, etc., and concessional management on the other, where a service provider supplies the aforementioned services. Our study will therefore focus on the latter segment.

The global contract catering market is dynamic, and should continue to grow over the next few years, with an average annual growth rate of 3. 3% between 2023 and 2032.

In France, an average of 7.3 billion meals are served each year in the foodservice sector. This French market is highly concentrated, with three companies sharing over 70% of the sector's market share. The market is based on 4 main sectors: medico-social and healthcare catering, school catering, corporate catering and prison and military catering.

The sector's professionals are having to adapt their offer in line with new consumer expectations, but also with changing regulations, notably the Egalim law and the Climate and Resilience law.

2 Demand analysis

3 Market structure

4 Offer analysis

5 Regulations

6 Positioning the players

6.1 Company segmentation

Source: ****

Compass Group France
API Restauration
Dupont Restauration
Restalliance
Bolk
Sodexo France
Sogeres
Arpège Restaurants (Elior Groupe)
Ansamble (Elior Groupe)
Restau'co
Bertrand Groupe
Scolarest (Compass group)
Vitalrest
Mille et un repas
L'Alsacienne de Restauration
Restauval
MRS (WSH group)
Serenest
Armor Cuisine (Dupont Restauration Groupe)
Bourgogne Repas
Restoria (Unigrains)
Refectory (Carrefour Groupe)
Restauria
Elior Groupe

List of charts

Geographical breakdown of the foodservice market
Size of the global foodservice market
Trends in the size of the French foodservice market
The different catering sectors
Breakdown of French people who have at least one contact with mass catering
Type of canteen used
Image of meals served in collective restaurants
Adhesion to various statements about the canteen
User preferences
Percentage of catering establishments having introduced organic products to their menus
Restaurants offering organic products, by type of restaurant
Proportion of organic food products purchased by different catering sectors
Proportion of sustainable and quality food products in the purchases of the various catering sectors
Breakdown of the cost of a catering meal
Canteen consumer price index
Other catering services" producer price index
Breakdown of Covid-19 impact by job type
The two types of foodservice management
Breakdown of management types by catering sector
Number of meals served by the main food service companies
Growth in the number of establishments registered under activity 5629A "Contract catering"
Change in the number of employees registered in activity 5629A "Contract catering"
Average food waste in foodservice per person per meal

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Latest news

Elior inaugurates the Derichebourg era by reducing its loss - 23/11/2023

On April 18, recycling specialist Derichebourg took control (48.4%) of catering giant Elior and contributed activities from its DMS multiservices division.
Daniel Derichebourg becomes CEO of Elior Group
Elior Group reduced its net loss to 93 million euros (versus 427 million euros the previous year), and saw its annual sales increase by 11.2% to 5.22 billion euros
Elior Services focuses on cleaning, hospitality, concierge services and green spaces, while DMS focuses on energy efficiency, security, temporary employment and aeronautical subcontracting.
Elior services has 21,000 employees worldwide, DMS 37,000 (including 25,000 in France).
Elior Foodservices employs 86,000 people and accounts for 80% of Elior's sales
The Eliora group now has two pillars - foodservices and multiservices - each worth around 1.5 billion euros in France

Restoria: double CSR and Mission Company audit - 17/11/2023

Restoria is an independent catering company based in Angers, France
The company has been a société à mission and Lucie 26000-certified since 2013
Restoria employs 900 people
Sales of 55 million euros
Restoria is subject to the Egalim law, which requires 50% sustainable products and 20% organic products in its supplies
Restoria achieves 11% organic content in its supplies.

Corporate catering: how Refectory is trying to develop its model | Corporate catering: the Refectory model - 13/11/2023

Refectory was set up eight years ago in Marcq-en-Baroeul, near Lille
Meals cost around ten euros and are delivered free of charge to company employees
Carrefour acquired a 60% stake in Refectory in 2020
The company is currently present in 18 conurbations in France
It has a fleet of 300 delivery vans
Refectory works with over 10,000 companies
The company has 21 preparation warehouses in France
Refectory has 550 employees, including 300 delivery personnel, all with permanent contracts
The company is aiming for sales of 100 million euros in less than five years
Refectory supplies between 25 and 30,000 meals a day, more than double the number in 2020
Refectory has opened its own kitchen in Belgium, which also supplies France.

Foodservices Sodexo continues to transform its business model - 26/10/2023

Sodexo client retention rate: 95.2
Fiscal 2023 revenue growth: +11.6%
Sodexo revenues in 2023: 22.6 billion euros
Sales of the Pluxee meal voucher activity: +26.9% to 1 billion euros
Pluxee net income: 234 million euros
Net income for all other Sodexo activities: 560 million euros
Percentage of Group capital controlled by Bellon SA family holding: over 40%
The United States accounts for 46% of Sodexo's on-site service revenues.

Groupe Bertrand prepares its next offensive - 21/07/2023

Groupe Bertrand sales: 2.7 billion euros in 2022 (compared with around 2 billion in 2019).
Groupe Bertrand is France's leading independent restaurant operator, and number two in the sector behind McDonald's.
Groupe Bertrand comprises two distinct divisions: Bertrand Franchise and Bertrand Hospitality.
The group's brands include : Burger King, Léon, Au Bureau, Hippopotamus, etc.
Groupe Bertrand owns 40% of Burger King, with the remainder held by the Bridgepoint investment fund.
The group plans to open 120 to 130 new establishments a year in France.
Estimated sales for 2023 are €3 billion.
Groupe Bertrand also owns Nespresso boutiques, Maison Plisson (which sells fresh produce and delicatessen products), and an agricultural estate in Nonville (which produces organic fruit and vegetables).

Sodexo BRS: transforming the customer experience - 02/06/2023

Sodexo BRS (Benefits & Rewards Services) uses Genesys Cloud CX and Salesforce Service Cloud to harmonize its customer service strategy
Sodexo BRS presence in 31 countries.
36 million beneficiaries of Sodexo BRS services.
500,000 corporate and public organization clients.
1.7 million merchant partners.
More than 1,500 customer service agents in different countries.

Companies quoted in this study

This study contains a complete overview of the companies in the market, with the latest figures and news for each company. :

Compass Group France

API Restauration

Dupont Restauration

Restalliance

Bolk

Sodexo France

Sogeres

Arpège Restaurants (Elior Groupe)

Ansamble (Elior Groupe)

Restau'co

Bertrand Groupe

Scolarest (Compass group)

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