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Environmental labeling trials in company canteens to guide diners towards environment-friendly food

Eco Score
The introduction of the circular economy law in France which provides for testing environmental labelling solutions requires food professionals to test different approaches designed to provide consumers with reliable and readable information. This is why Elior, the only contract caterer involved in the study, is testing one possible Eco-Score solution for several weeks in seven company restaurants so as to assess the impact of environmental information on its guests’ food choices.

Commit to raising awareness of diners and guiding them towards adopting healthy and responsible eating habits

Promoting a healthy and respectful diet with consumers requires an educational approach. Convinced that the transition in eating habits will oblige guests to make informed choices, Elior has already implemented two levers of action, namely the deployment of:

  • Nutri-Score in school and company canteens to provide transparent and readable information on the nutritional quality of recipes, and
  • Carbon-Score to provide transparent information on the carbon impact of recipes

Elior is continuing this momentum with Eco-Score, and is testing new courses of action.

Testing Eco-Score to obtain the environmental rating of canteen meals

The French anti-waste law introduced on February 10, 2020 to promote a circular economy provides for the deployment of environmental labelling, as well as experiments to define its form. The French Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition and the French Agency for Ecological Transition, ADEME, are thus leading a project aimed at assessing environmental labeling methods and methodologies in the food sector.

Elior has decided to participate in this collective effort for a healthy and reasoned diet that respects the environment. With the support of Eco2Initiative, Elior is testing Eco-Score in seven of its restaurants for several weeks. Like Nutri-score, which provides information on the nutritional impact of food, Eco-score grades recipes alphabetically from A (for dishes having the lowest environmental footprint) to E (for those with the highest) and provides a color-coding system ranging from green to red. The transparent and accessible methodology used to determine the Eco-Score is open to all stakeholders wishing to engage in environmental labeling. The Eco-score calculation methodology developed by Eco2initiative takes into account labels, origin and good production practices.

The objective is to assess the effects this labeling system has on choices made by consumers and to guide them towards more environment-friendly food consumption. The data collected from, and the conclusions drawn from the experiment carried out with guests will then be evaluated by the scientific council of the ministry.

These environmental labeling trials underscore Elior's determination to participate in the move to change eating habits so as to meet the challenge posed by the ecological transition. Pointing consumers towards making environment-friendly purchases and encouraging producers to make their products more virtuous are indeed the two main challenges facing environmental information.

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