Inflation invites itself to the table of school canteens.
A forum written by collective catering companies, which will be published on Monday and of which
Le Parisien
has already revealed extracts, sets the tone.
"
With each meal served in a canteen, companies in our sector lose money
", they are alarmed, indicating that their "
sector is experiencing the deepest crisis in its history
" due to "the
rise in prices
".
These companies which manage school canteens on behalf of communities therefore require “
at least a 9% increase compared to the prices charged on January 1, 2022
”.
Sign of their distress, they add that “
if this is not possible, we ask to be able to break the contracts
”.
This level of increase will not make it possible to completely compensate for the rise in prices which collective catering has had to face for some time, specifies the forum.
Force majeure
A representative of the sector indicates that the price of foodstuffs suffered an inflation of 7% in the months of June and July, then of 10% in August, 12% in September and up to 13% in October.
“
According to forecasts, we should be close to 18% in November!
“, he exclaims in
Le Parisien
.
The “catastrophic”
potato
harvests do not help matters.
The cries of alarm seem to be heard very little by the communities.
Already this summer, the first warnings from major companies in the sector, Sodexo and Elior in the lead, had hardly been followed up.
Only a few cities have agreed to pay an amendment to the contract, often passing it on to the families, as was for example decided in Metz, in Moselle.
No choice, they justify themselves, since the cities themselves are victims of inflation.
Read alsoThe rise in canteen prices worries mayors and parents of students
“
We understand (school catering companies) because we have the same problems.
The town halls are also suffering the effects of inflation very violently
,” defended David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes and president of the Association of Mayors of France, to Le
Parisien
.
The elected official does not approve of the principle of a 9% increase in budgets, because this would impact “
the family budget
” which he wishes to “
defend
”.
"
If (...) it becomes too complicated, the cities will go into management and will no longer have recourse to these companies
", he threatened.
For the time being, the law prohibits companies that supply school canteens from unilaterally terminating the contracts that bind them to communities.
They ask to be able to do so in the face of the urgency of the situation.
"
These are thousands of jobs threatened by the spring
," says the representative of the sector.
If the situation does not improve, small and medium-sized enterprises on the verge of bankruptcy could apply to the courts for force majeure.
