“This title must remain a lunch aid for employees who do not have a company restaurant,” according to the president of the Union of Hospitality Trades and Industries.
“In meal voucher, there is ‘restaurant’.” Michelin-starred chef Thierry Marx, president of the main employers’ union in the hotel and catering industry, the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (Umih), asked, Thursday, November 16, to be received “as soon as possible” by Elisabeth Borne, while the government is considering perpetuating the possibility of purchasing food products in the supermarket with meal vouchers.
“With its about-face on extending the use of meal vouchers to food products, the government is sending a very bad signal to our profession”laments the cook. “This voucher must remain a lunch aid for employees who do not have a company restaurant. It must not become a shopping cart voucher”he continues.
A shortfall of “200 million euros” for restaurateurs
The president of Umih wishes to speak with Elisabeth Borne to inform her of the“incomprehension” and “dissatisfaction” of the profession, as well as the “wish for a rapid return to the situation preceding the 2022 law”. This text introduces the possibility of purchasing non-directly consumable food products (flour, pasta, rice, eggs, fish, meat, etc.) in supermarkets with meal vouchers, an exemption which was to end on December 31, 2023.
But faced with the outcry caused by the end of the system, Bercy announced its wish to extend it in 2024, or even make it permanent. “In 2023, there will be a shortfall of 200 million euros for our restaurateurs”estimates the chef, recalling “that in 2023, mass distribution will see its meal voucher market share increase by more than 6%” When “that of restaurants decreased by 3%”.
“We are and we will be alongside restaurateurs”, responded Thursday the Minister for SMEs and Commerce on the sidelines of a trip to Indre-et-Loire. But “we must also listen to the French. Food inflation (…) remains quite high” and the possibility of continuing to use meal vouchers for food purchases “is a bona fide freedom”according to Olivia Grégoire.