Elior in the Media

With many people now leaving on their summer break, Le Figaro Economie and Aujourd'hui en France take a look at motorway services. This year, faced with soaring petrol prices, operators will have to focus their efforts on improving customer loyalty, and therefore on offering more special deals. "Since the middle of June, we are witnessing a slight drop in spending at our motorway services, as a direct result of the decline in traffic," says Alain Clevy, director of the Motorway division at Elior, France's leading motorway catering operator. In a bid to boost customer retention, Elior will run games for children with PlayStation consoles as the top prize.

An Italian enclave set in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles: this is how Le Nouvel Observateur describes the restaurant 'La Petite Venise', which "offers trattoria-style catering and a worthy change of scenery".

In an interview with Néorestauration, Alain Hiff, the managing director of Avenance Enseignement, comments on the outcome of the survey carried out by TNS Sofres on the introduction of organic food at school restaurants. The main finding of the study is that 71% of parents feel this ought to be a priority, as organic food will help improve their children's health. Avenance has already integrated organic food and fair trade products in its supplies and menus. The group has signed several partnerships with organic food producers, including for fruit and vegetables, milk and cereals. Alain Hiff points out that Avenance has a duty of "fulfilling an educational role with children," which means raising their curiosity and awareness of taste.
 

A study carried out by TNS-Sofres on behalf of Avenance Enseignement reveals that close to 80% of parents believe that serving organic food at school restaurants is good for the environment, and that 71% see this as a priority.
Meanwhile, 47% of parents in France feel that organic products are synonymous with high food quality. Currently, less than 1% of French school restaurants serve organic food. Avenance, the number one for organic food in schools with 600,000 organic (or organic-equivalent) meals per year, has a range of organic food that includes more than 1,200 products, according to Alain Hiff, the managing director of Avenance Enseignement.
Aside from the price issue (organic food is more expensive), Le Journal du Dimanche writes that the sector is unfortunately ill-equipped to meet the needs of school restaurants. However, this did not stop the Ile-de-France region to launch a pilot scheme with 19 schools. Indeed, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë has pledged to raise the proportion of organic food used in the preparation of meals served at schools and crèches in the city to a minimum of 30%.

For the third year running, Elior recently organized an event called "Goût d'avenir, un jour pour une carrière" (A taste of the future, a day for a career) for the benefit of its apprentices. The objective is to encourage them to join the Group and to give them the means to achieve their career ambitions. The 2008 edition enabled around 100 young people to chat with representatives from operational divisions, as well as from the human resources and marketing departments. The event is in line with the apprenticeship charter signed by Elior in 2005. Last year, Elior had over 600 young people on work experience placements, and the group plans to lift the figure to 1,000 by 2010.

L'Express Styles publishes the list of its top 30 restaurant terraces in Paris. The list includes the Café Branly, whose 2-hectare terrace on the garden level of the Quai Branly museum includes 180 tree varieties from all parts of the world. The "home-made" Pizza Margarita is one of the best items on the menu. Not to forget the views of the Eiffel Tower!

As part of a special feature about catering services at retirement homes, Collectivités Express devotes an article to Elior's subsidiary Avenance Santé-Résidences, which runs catering operations at almost 300 healthcare institutions.
The group is fully geared towards meeting the needs of pensioners with the help of a charter called "Fondamentaux pour les personnes agées" (Fundamentals for elderly people). Within this framework, significant efforts were made to improve the food offering, whilst measures aimed at promoting inter-generational links ("Raconte-moi" competitions, Récréazen) and breaking the isolation of residents have also been implemented. Another aspect focuses on training, with the emphasis on understanding the problems faced by elderly people, and in particular by those with reduced mobility. With this in mind, Avenance has introduced its "Faciles à manger" (easy to eat) concept, which is targeted at dependent pensioners who suffer from eating disorders or from malnutrition and which also combines eating and pleasure. The concept involves three main separate recipe groups: Compositions Saveurs (in which all textures are altered), Nutri-Saveurs (enriched food products targeted at individuals suffering from malnutrition) and Bouchées Saveurs (for disorientated individuals). Avenance makes special efforts to ensure it complies with operational guidelines and also pays attention to food presentation so as not to confuse residents. This applies to every single meal, including breakfast and afternoon snacks. The group has also ordered a distinct range of crockery. The full concept has now been implemented at 35 sites where catering services are provided by Avenance.

As part of France's DIF (Droit Individuel à la Formation) training scheme, Avenance Enseignement is offering its employees courses to improve their skills in French and maths on a voluntary basis. The objective is to bridge the educational gaps that can hamper the employees'career prospects. 97 out of the 2,100 staff contacted in the Ile-de-France region took part in the appraisal process. The group could decide to extend the program.

On the occasion of France's "Museum Night" event, Figaroscope takes its readers on a "guided tour of museum restaurants". In the case of Les Ombres, Elior's restaurant at the Quai Branly museum, the newspaper is full of praise for the menu designed by chef Arno Busquet, dotted with references to the indigenous art theme: exotic fruits, tropical vegetables, spices etc. Figaroscope also praises the decor, quality of service and the introduction of a tearoom service in the afternoon.

Néorestauration devotes an article to Arpège, a company set up in 1987 which became a subsidiary of Elior in 1991. Arpège currently operates 72 sites, including 60% company and 40% inter-company restaurants, and registered total sales worth €72 million for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. The group serves 35,000 customers every day and employs 1,060 people, including 100 head chefs and 15 international chefs. "We offer a style of catering to suit each site as well as a range of personal services whilst working as close as we can with our customers," says Denis Lehmann, the chief executive of Arpège.

Néorestauration publishes a feature about airport catering services, and more specifically about the expectations of customers. Travel retail is a very specific sector given the particular profile of airport customers. According to Jean-Daniel Elbim, managing director of Elior's Airports division, operators need to take into account the different types of customers and the different types of flights (long and short haul as well as scheduled services and low-cost flights).

Le Parisien reports the news that the Louvre museum has renewed Elior's contract. By January 2010, visitors will have a choice of 12 food outlets, including a new restaurant called Arts & Sens, which will be run by French chef Guy Martin.
Meanwhile, the Group will open a tea room at the Grand Palais in the summer, together with a Comptoir Moka and a Mini-Moka mobile counter.

On Tuesday 22 April, Elior published a statement in which is says it has "won three major concession catering contracts in the museum and prestigious venues sector in Paris". These include the Louvre museum, where a wide-ranging restructuring of catering services is planned between now and 2010. Elior has been a partner of the Louvre since 1989. Starting in 2010, the museum will include 12 catering outlets, as Elior says in its statement: "Under the pyramid, the current "Café du Louvre" and the "Grand Louvre" will be replaced by a new area containing themed counters based on bakery products and regional specialties. On the mezzanine level, a range of contemporary menus will be available under a single banner called "Le Grand Café", which will include four stands set out around one main food court." The mezzanine level will also include a gourmet restaurant called "Arts & Sens", with a menu designed by Guy Martin. (As Aéroports Magazine reports, Guy Martin is set to open a top-end fast food outlet called "Miyou" at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport’s Terminal 2E). Finally, the Café Mollien, the Salon de Thé Richelieu and the Café Denon are all set to be redesigned and modernized.