Carbon-Score, impact studies... Elior helps strengthen our collective resilience

Reducing the carbon impact of our recipes

Elior France chefs have the opportunity to integrate an essential piece of data into their menu development process: the carbon footprint of their recipes. This carbon footprint calculation is made using the Agribalyse database provided by ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency), which is now fully integrated into Elior information systems. Each meal is given a carbon emission score from A to E based on the average emissions generated by each ingredient. Chefs can then use this information to guide their menu choices and offer less carbon-intensive recipes. Elior B&I and Ansamble are making increasing use of this digital resource, which is also being implemented at Serunion. Using this new data source, Elior is able to calculate the carbon footprint of all its menus, as well as monitor and guide the forward development of its global offer towards delivering an overall increase in low carbon recipes. To complete the process, Elior also displays the carbon score of its recipes in restaurants. This level of transparency shows not only leadership by example, but is also designed to raise guest awareness of this important issue.

Reflecting on the need for collective resilience

The Elior Group also wants to kick-start a process of adaptive change at every link in its value chain. In 2022, the Group commissioned the leading climate consultancy Carbone 4 to conduct a wide-ranging study to quantify the cost climate change in terms of its impacts on procurement; a priority issue for the Group. For the purposes of this analysis, four Elior operating countries in Europe were selected - Italy, UK, Spain and France - as well as four climate extremes that have a significant impact on agriculture: heatwaves, heavy rainfall, drought and frost. Lastly, the analysis focused on ten fruits and vegetables that together account for more than a quarter of all produce purchased by Elior. Carbone 4 has used the findings of the survey to construct a series of impact scenarios, and has been able to estimate the additional purchase cost generated as a direct result of certain climate events for the period to 2035. This type of forecasting helps the Group to gain the insight needed to take more joined up long-term and short-term decisions. Elior has also used these findings to

integrate climate issues even more closely into the operational aspects of its business. For example, resiliency criteria will now be included in the menu design process to prioritize ingredients that are sustainably available in the market. Lastly, convinced of the need to collaborate with all its stakeholders as part of structuring its resilience to physical risks, the Group has agreed to share the study findings with them. This will then form the basis for implementing a collective initiative to ensure security of supply from France’s leading fruit and vegetable growing regions.