Hey, it’s been almost a long time since restaurateurs took the issue of restaurant title gate. But rest assured, just like the rain always ends up falling in autumn and just like Mariah Carey will soon sing “All I Want for Christmas”, the upcoming arrival of the new year brings back complaints from chefs. It is therefore no surprise that the possible extension in 2025 of the use of meal vouchers for food shopping was judged as “a scandal” by Thierry Marx, president of Umih, the first employers’ organization of restaurateurs.
Meal vouchers “were created for restaurants”, their extension to mass distribution is a “scandal” and deprives restaurateurs of a windfall estimated at “576 million euros”, assured the restaurateur on RMC on Saturday morning .
A use still under debate
The government recently announced that the extension of the use of meal vouchers to purchase non-directly consumable products in supermarkets (flour, pasta, rice, meat, etc.), in place since 2022 and popular with users, was going to be the subject of arbitration “in the coming days”.
Friday, the other union in the sector, the Groupement des Hôtelleries & Restaurations de France (GHR), recognized that consumers saw it “an advantage in terms of purchasing power” but pleaded not to “continue to undermine all meal vouchers to mass distribution,” according to restaurateur Romain Vidal, in charge of the file within the GHR.
The issuer of meal vouchers not very hot either
He recommended “a double daily payment ceiling: a ceiling of 15 euros in supermarkets and a ceiling of 25 euros in restaurants”. For his part, Thierry Marx is calling for the creation of another “sustainable food” title for mass distribution.
Edenred, the issuer of meal vouchers, had previously indicated that it was “in principle” not in favor of making this extension permanent. The meal voucher is a “social benefit, intended to help you eat well during your working day. It is therefore important that in the long term, it remains anchored in catering, so that companies continue to agree to finance it,” believes the group.
Well, otherwise let us do our shopping, right, have you seen the price of olive oil?