This public service has 7 million beneficiaries and its prices will increase significantly again in 2024.
The French are preparing to feel additional financial pressure in 2024. And this concerns a public service that many families cannot do without: the school canteen. After a first wave of increases in 2022 and 2023, school catering prices are expected to rise again next year. This increase, influenced by the increase in the costs of raw materials (40% of the cost of a meal), salaries (45%), but also energy, will impact thousands of municipalities and therefore millions of households whose children are in school. There are around 7 million children who eat in the canteen at least once a week in France.
Meal suppliers to municipalities can only increase their prices once a year, generally on September 1st or January 1st. While the National Union of Collective Catering Companies (SNRC) had already obtained a 4% increase from town halls last year, a new wave of increases is therefore very close. Of how many ? “The indices applicable to price revisions at the next deadlines should rise from 5 to 7%,” assures the same union.
Price increases are already dotting articles in the local press, whether in small towns or large cities. In La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), the 3% increase at the start of the school year was widely commented on, even if the agglomeration took charge of a good part of the inflation. In Mazamet (Tarn), the 20% increase in canteen prices in one year is also still controversial, two and a half months after its entry into force. To further reduce costs, the town hall decided that the children of the unemployed were no longer a priority. From Saint-Aubin-d’Arquenay (Calvados) to Condom (Gers), price increases are already a reality in many municipalities.
And others will pass there in turn. In Labourse (Pas-de-Calais), an increase in canteen prices has just been decided for 2024. In Nailloux (Haute-Garonne), an increase in prices is also planned for January 1 following a change of service providers, after an initial increase of 10% for the year 2022-2023, with increases of €1.30 per meal! Municipal daycare will also be more expensive. In Saint-Pol-de-Léon (Finistère), the future increase in canteen prices is still under debate in the Municipal Council.
Some cities have chosen other solutions, but just as difficult, such as reducing portions one or more times a week, by removing part of the meal served. Others will charge for meals not consumed in the event of a child being absent, unless justified. And sometimes, it’s the quality that’s at stake. According to a mayor interviewed, canteens, which suffer a 20% increase in raw materials, cannot ensure the improvement in the quality of meals provided for by the recent Égalim law, “which supposes adding 40 cents to the cover”. ..
Other municipalities, such as Briastre (Hauts-de-France), stand out by fully covering the increase in costs to relieve families. But how many will be able to do it?