The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Healthier Lives Coalition, is contributing to the fifth year of “Mon Restaurant Passe Au Durable” (“My Restaurant Goes Sustainable”), an initiative co-led by Danone and a METRO France. Together with participating members Barilla, Bel, Flora Food Group, Nestlé and Savencia, the initiative continues to support chefs and restaurateurs across France to introduce affordable, attractive and more sustainable flexitarian options to their menus.

Building on five years of activity, the initiative’s recipe collection is being expanded this year with four new chef-tested vegetarian recipes that are easy-to-make, cost less than €3 per portion and include practical tips to help reduce food waste. CGF Healthier Lives Coalition members are contributing their expertise alongside participating chefs and METRO France to support the development of recipes that take into account affordability, taste, and ease of preparation.

The new recipe collection will be promoted through METRO France’s stores across France, bringing further visibility to the role of plant-based meals in healthier and more sustainable diets. Through its contribution to the initiative, the Coalition is also helping share practical learnings from across its membership on how healthier and more sustainable food choices can be made accessible and appealing.

This year also sees the launch of a new chef competition, giving chefs across France the opportunity to create their own versions of the recipes and showcase their creativity. Winners will receive METRO France shopping vouchers.

Turning healthier choices into practical solutions

Consumers are increasingly looking for food choices that are better for their health and the planet, without compromising on convenience, taste or affordability. This creates important opportunities for the food industry to respond to changing consumer expectations while also developing products and menu options that meet growing demand and create value for businesses. In the Coalition’s recent publication, State of Food Habits: How Consumers Eat Today, a Bain & Co survey found that in France, 80% of consumers reported that health impacts their food choices with 30% of French consumer food budgets being spent in restaurants. 

For the Coalition and its members, the campaign provides a practical opportunity to contribute to a wider industry initiative responding to these changing expectations and to demonstrate how cross-sector collaboration can support healthier and more sustainable menu options. The initiative brings together stakeholders across the food system, with METRO France leading the programme and food manufacturers, professional chefs, health and sustainability partners and the CGF’s Healthier Lives Coalition contributing expertise and practical perspectives around the challenge of making healthier and more sustainable menu options work in professional kitchens.

The Coalition’s involvement also provides useful learning about how factors such as cost, consumer appeal, preparation and food waste can be addressed together when developing healthier menu options, insights that can help inform similar efforts in other markets and regions.