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Faced with the increase in the prices of raw materials and energy, school catering companies are demanding a renegotiation of their contracts by the end of the year. They are asking for a 9% increase, which is difficult for families to bear.
Every day, nearly 3.2 million children have lunch in a canteen served by a private provider. But faced with the rise in the prices of raw materials and energy, companies delivering school meals say they can no longer continue in this way. They want to raise their prices.
A 9% increase
“For three years, our sector has been experiencing the deepest crisis in its history, faced with rising prices, we can no longer continue“, thus reveals the National Union of Collective Catering (SNRC) in a forthcoming column, relayed by Le Parisien.
The SNRC specifies “that with every meal served in a canteen, companies in our sector lose money”.
And for good reason: since September, the cost of raw materials has increased by 12%. School catering companies therefore wish to increase their prices or, if necessary, terminate their contracts.
“We request […] at least 9% increase compared to the prices charged on January 1, 2022. And if this is not possible, we ask to be able to break the contracts.”
A crisis that is not without consequences for the staff since “thousands of jobs are threatened by spring“, warns the SNRC.
A price increase that is difficult for families to bear
For its part, the association of mayors of France indicates that it is difficult – even unreasonable – to further increase the price of canteen meals.
“Thinking that cities have a lot of money to meet their demand or that we can systematically pass on the cost of their increase to families, it’s not so simple because families are also in difficulty“, underlines Gilles Pérole, deputy mayor of Mouans-Sartoux (Alpes-Maritimes) and co-president of the “School catering” group at the Association of Mayors of France (AMF).