FERCO welcomes its new Vice-President
FERCO welcomes its new Vice-President The FERCO General Assembly met in Brussels on 12 December 2007. At this occasion, the GA elected Dr. Hans Georg Rummler, Group Director Technical Services of Compass, as Vice-President in charge of food issues: EU legislation on food hygiene and HACCP, labelling, consumer information and the fight against obesity.
In 2008, food issues will be on top of the FERCO agenda: the GA endorsed the 2008 Commitments to the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. The GA also decided to launch the up-dating of its European Hygiene Code of good practice and to draft an EU HACCP Code.
Finally, the GA expressed great concerns about two issues: firstly, the constant rising of food prices which might put quality at risk in a sector where food service contracts are awarded in general to the lowest price. This is why FERCO will continue in 2008 to promote the choice of best value, with the support of the EU Commission and in partnership with its social partner EFFAT. Secondly, the forthcoming new piece of EU legislation regarding food labelling, nutritional labelling and consumer information. As stressed by President Antonio Llorens: “how the new regulation will apply to our sector needs further clarification. Our companies already invest in efficient, flexible and practical ways for providing relevant information to the final consumer. Impractical and burdensome legislative requirements should be avoided”
The EU Commission formally recognises the EU Social Dialogue of the contract catering sector and launches a Sectoral Committee
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FERCO and its social partner EFFAT have decided to put obesity on the agenda of their Social Dialogue Committee. Therefore, they signed on October 9th 2007 a joint declaration on the fight against obesity
Download joint declaration on the fight against obesity
FERCO adopts its2008 Commitments against obesity
The FERCO General Assembly, which met in Brussels on 12 December 2007, adopted the 2008 Commitments to Diet, Physical Activity and Health. The Commitments follow on the 2007 Commitments.
FERCO has been a member of the EU Platform since 2005. Its members have undertaken initiatives aiming to improve consumers’ diet and protect their health. Although it is the prime responsibility of FERCO’s clients to decide whether to make nutrition a priority, FERCO members and their 600,000 employees are committed to providing the best model of nutritional balance, as well as conforming to high food hygiene and safety standards.
The 2008 Commitments outline general nutrition recommendations, urge members to participate in public authorities’ initiatives to fight obesity and confirm an agreement with the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism Sectors (EFFAT) to jointly promote healthier lifestyles.
Food and consumer issues will be top priorities for FERCO in 2008, focusing on the fight against obesity.
Guide to the Economically Most Advantageous Offer
Most catering contracts are awarded to the company that submits the lowest bid. This predominance of the price criteria can be partly explained by budgetary restrictions in the public sector and cost-cutting policies of private companies. There is also a lack of instruments that could help clients select the Contract Catering company offering the best quality/price ratio.
FERCO considers that choosing service providers on the basis of price alone is damaging as it induces Contract Catering companies to streamline their costs as much as possible, sometimes to the detriment of the quality of the meals and services provided. Awarding contracts at the lowest price cannot help promote a healthy diet. This is particularly true in the case of schools, hospitals and retirement homes, where low quality service has a significant impact on people’s nutrition, health and education.
As a result, FERCO and its social partner EFFAT (European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism Sectors) have decided in the context of their European Social Dialogue to propose a method for awarding catering contracts that accounts for both quality and price. To facilitate the practical implementation of this procedure, EFFAT and FERCO have created with the support of the EU Commission, a Guide to the Economically Most Advantageous Offer. (The economically most advantageous offer represents the best quality for the best price.)
The Guide is intended to promote the use of quality criteria for the awarding of catering contracts by the clients, whether they are public organisations or private companies.
FERCO and EFFAT believe that the choice by both public and private entities of the “economically most advantageous offer” can contribute to a higher level of nutritional balance and improved food hygiene and safety standards.
The Guide is available in height languages (FR, EN, DE, ES, NL, IT, HU, PL) online at www.contract-catering-guide.org
