Why did ECOCERT get into collective catering?
When the label Ecocert in the Kitchen was created in 2013, the share of organic products in collective catering in France in the total amount of purchases is only 2% compared to 7% in 2022.[1]. In this sector, there was very little talk about food and sustainable practices, which seemed paradoxical to us with the primary mission of collective catering, that is to say: to enable as many people as possible to eat well every day. By providing a new definition of "eating well in a sustainable manner", the label Ecocert In the Kitchen was thus a pioneer, becoming the first French specification dedicated to sustainable collective catering: organic, local, healthy. Even today, the collective catering sector, with its 80,000 establishments and 3,8 billion meals, represents a tremendous opportunity and a powerful lever for action for the development of the organic sector.
What link can you make between collective food and agriculture?
organic?
The law EQUALIM of 2018 establishes, for the first time, a regulatory framework for this sector, by imposing 20% of organic products in food purchases. Overall, this law invites us to rethink the system by establishing a new framework for supplies, costs, logistics, etc. The mission of the label goes in the same direction and even beyond by reliably guaranteeing the use of organic and local products, the quality of the menus served, homemade food, but also the fight against waste, waste management, the limitation of endocrine disruptors, etc. The label En Cuisine therefore implements, beyond organic, a system of multi-thematic criteria taking into account nutritional, health and environmental issues.
How does the integration of organic products into restaurants actually work?
Ten years ago, the trend was to make a complete 100% organic meal once or several times a year. Generally, this initiative ended in failure, meaning the cessation of the use of organic products. Indeed, changing suppliers and practices for a single day disrupted the organization too much and destabilized the overall functioning of the restaurant. Another approach is now widely practiced: gradually introducing products throughout the year, reinforced by the EGALIM law. The recipe for success? First, introduce so-called easy organic products like yogurts or bread because generally the texture, taste or colors are close to conventional products, then work later with more complex products, for example based on root vegetables or legumes. Many cooks in certified canteens will therefore integrate organic products into their meals by product group: vegetables and fruits, groceries, oils, plant and animal protein, and will communicate extensively with their suppliers to work on sourcing, format, logistics, and presentation for guests. The label, for its part, allows for annual readings on the introduction of organic products, and thus the cook, technical teams, and elected officials have the ability to measure their progress, with a better view of the contents of the guests' plates.
What conclusions can you draw, 10 years after the creation of the “En Cuisine” label?
Today, across France, we are proud to have more than 3000 certified canteens. Ecocert In the Kitchen, with the completion of more than 1000 field audits each year by 30 auditors throughout France. The data collected by the audits makes it possible to draw up an overview of progress such as the observatory of organic and sustainable collective catering but also to highlight committed establishments. Finally, the study that we conducted alongside the INRAE in 2022 proved that different transition paths are possible towards the sustainability of canteens[2]This work with research helps to raise awareness and convince more communities and policymakers of the usefulness of these actions in responding to environmental and food security challenges. We are convinced that organic farming has a key role to play in supporting transitions in collective catering, which will thus continue to be a lever for growth for organic products.
[2] Green and responsible canteens: how to achieve them? | INRAE
— An article written by ECOCERT —