The main characteristics of the Contract Catering. The
following characteristics differentiate the contract catering
from the other forms of restaurant services:
- There’s
a contractual relation between the collective organisation
and the service provider
- A clearly defined clientele:
workers, civil servants, students, patients, etc. who have access
to a canteen or an internal restaurant
- The services are offered
in the premises of the collective organisation.
- The meals are delivered
at a “social” price.
The Contract
Catering consists in the outsourcing, by a firm or a collective organisation,
of their restaurant services by a specialized company, on a contractual base.
Catering is part of life. Be it companies, administrations,
local authorities, crèches, schools, universities,
retirement homes or hospitals, all are increasingly relying
on contract catering.
Today,
around 30% of firms or collective organisations have
a contract with a Contract Catering company. Our
sector is prospering; with a turnover of 22 billions
Euro, the Contract Catering employs 600.000 persons all
over Europe and delivers around 6 billions meals each
year. This represents 67 million consumers served every day, one in four meals taken outside
the home, and more precisely one in every two meals taken
at the workplace, more than one in four meals at school
and more than one in 10 in healthcare or social sectors.
Contract catering companies are characterised by their
knowledge of food hygiene
and safety and their highly trained and motivated staff.
They also consistently aspire to, and achieve, ever-rising
standards for their services.
Through their strong position in their own markets, contract
caterers can negotiate better prices for food supply, a
benefit which they pass on to their clients. They in turn
allow end consumers to benefit from preferential meal prices.
This industry is represented by FERCO (the European
Federation of Contract Catering organisations) which
brings together the national contract catering associations
from 12 EU Member States—over four fifths of the
European market. FERCO provides a forum allowing the industry
to share and develop Best
Practice within and across borders.
Facts & figures
