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Summary of our market study
The French corporate market for meal trays is estimated at €170 million.
The global market for meal trays is estimated at $2 billion.
The meal tray market in France comprises two segments: corporate deliveries and home-delivered meals for the elderly.
In the corporate world, the meal tray sector is growing at an annual rate of 2%. Avekapeti, Tout & Bon and L'Affiche focus on corporate meal delivery. Upscale companies such as Room Saveurs and Lenôtre have adopted "economical" offers to keep up with the competition, with prices for meal trays ranging from €15 to €30 excluding VAT.
In the segment of meal trays for the elderly, players such as Les Menus Services and Saveurs et Vie are seeing demand linked to the aging of the population and the increasing number of people losing their independence. Prices for these services range from 13 to 19 euros.
The meal tray market faces competition from Foodtech companies such as Deliveroo for Business, Just Eat for Business, and Uber for Business.
The French market is particularly concentrated, with leaders such as Room Saveurs, Class'Croûte and Riem Becker.
Traditional market players take advantage of economies of scale, while new entrants focus on differentiation through partnerships with gourmet brands.
This market benefits from government regulations that encourage personal assistance services, with tax assistance amounting to 50% of expenses incurred.
Main competitors in the meal trays market
- Room Saveurs: A subsidiary of the Fleury Michon group, Room Saveurs has forged partnerships with luxury gastronomy brands such as Fauchon.
- Class'Crôute: Known for its extensive network of franchises
- Riem Becker acquired L'Affiche from the Sodexo group, and has become the third-largest provider of meal trays.
- Les Menus Service focuses on the elderly with a network of franchised stores.
- Saveurs & vie: Another player in the meal tray delivery sector for the elderly.
- Foodtech startups such as Popchef and Foodchéri focus on home-cooked meal delivery services.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Market overview and definition
The meal tray market covers all companies that make, prepare and deliver complete meals. There are two sub-segments in this market, depending on the consumers they cater to:
- Delivery of meal trays to companies: for meetings, events, seminars, etc., where volumes justify the use of specialized companies that can deliver these trays very quickly, unlike traditional caterers. These players also deliver to employees as a more regular alternative to the canteen, even if this activity represents a lower margin:
- Delivery of meal trays for individuals, and more specifically for the frail: a number of companies have specialized in the delivery of well-balanced and adapted meal trays for the frail who can no longer cook for themselves. Genuine personal assistance services, these brands also rely on personalization.
This study does not deal with mass catering meals, often referred to as meal trays, but which fall within the specific mass catering market (companies, schools, retirement homes or even air and rail transport), for which a study is available here. Lome delivery services such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats do not fall within the scope of this study either, as they are delivery services only (a study on this subject is available here)
The market is growing in both segments. Corporate meal trays are driven by employees' quest for efficiency at work during their lunch break, and their desire to combine it with a healthy diet. Home-delivered meals are benefiting from an ageing population and an increasing number of people losing their independence. Here again, the awareness that a healthy diet is the key to a balanced life is driving growth. This segment is expected to grow by 2% a year between 2019 and 2023.
The trend today is for personalized offerings, but also for eco-responsible criteria to be taken into account. In addition, competition from food techs, who offer delivery of restaurant dishes for often lower prices, is pushing down prices in the sector. However, meal tray companies can rely on their image of quality and flexibility.
1.2 Global market
The global market for meal trays is expected to grow at a CAGR of +*.*% over the decade, reaching US$*.* billion in ****.
sales trend for meal trays World, ****-****, € billion Source: ****
The market should be boosted by the post-Covid trend towardsready-made meals. The sector should also see a diversification of offerings, with ...
1.3 Domestic market
The corporate meal tray market
The corporate meal tray and catering market represented nearly ***.* million euros in ****, compared with ***.* million in ****, representing an average annual increase of *% according to Xerfi figures given by Challenges. It has grown steadily since **** (***). To propose an order of magnitude for sales in this segment in ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Employee and company demand
Companies and their employees are a central component of meal tray demand. Indicators such as the working population and the number of business start-ups all point to the demand for meal trays.
In ****, the working population stood at **.* million in France, up +*.* million on ****. According to INSEE forecasts, this upward trend ...
2.2 Changing eating habits in the workplace
Finding a balance between efficiency and a healthy lunch
**% of French people eat directly at their workplace (***) without taking a real lunch break. This figure rises to **% among women and the under-**s. A further **% eat at home or at a relative's place, compared with just **% who eat in the ...
2.3 The expected dynamism of meal delivery for the elderly
Meals-on-wheels services enable elderly people who are losing their independence to continue eating properly by receiving healthy meals directly, adapted to their dietary requirements.
Demand for this segment is set to grow significantly as the population ages. The over-**s will make up **.*% of the population in ****, compared with just **% in ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Production and distribution
The traditional model: value chain integration, from formula design to production and distribution
Traditional players in the meal tray sector are active at all stages of the value chain, from sourcing to distribution, including the development of new formulas and their industrial production.
Companies such as Room Saveurs and Class'croute have ...
3.2 The main players in the sector
The players in the corporate meal tray market
While the sector seems fragmented, with a multiplicity of local and fragmented brands (***), the French market is highly concentrated around historic leaders such as Room Saveurs, Class'Croûte and Riem Becker, which acquired L'Affiche in ****.
In ****, Room Saveurs posted sales of €**.* million and ...
3.3 Competition from Food Techs
The Foodtech model: outsourcing production to local restaurateurs to compete with foodservice professionals
Faced with the vertical integration of the food chain by the major groups, local restaurateurs have chosen Foodtech to enter the meal tray market. The Foodtech business model consists of listing restaurateurs on an online portal and taking ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Falling prices
A deflationary trend driven by the rise of "low-cost" offerings and competition from Foodtech
The intensification of competitive pressure is leading to a generalized reduction in prices across the entire meal tray sector. Foodtechs are contributing to this deflationary trend by offering prices in line with those of their partner restaurants. ...
4.2 Offer diversification
Menu diversification
Meal tray manufacturers are multiplying their models and formulas around the themes of nutrition and eco-responsibility:
In the range of products offered, "well-being" formulas represent a growing volume of total sales. These formulas emphasize the choice of fresh, balanced products with high nutritional value; In a similar vein, consumers ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Government-recommended hygiene practices
Home delivery regulations have been particularly developed in recent years, as the practice gains in popularity and the associated players and business models multiply.
Best practices are defined by the Direction de l'Information Légale et Administrative(***), which emphasizes the treatment of products according to their sensitivity:
Source: ****
When it comes ...
5.2 Regulations governing the delivery of meal trays
The French government regulates meal delivery for health and commercial reasons. A number of issues are involved, and here are the main ones.
Declaring your activity
According to thedecree of June **, ****, the person in charge of the meal delivery service must declare his activity to the Direction Départementale de la ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- Room Saveurs
- Apagor -Class'croute
- Riem Becker Groupe
- Les Menus Services
- Saveurs et Vie
- La Brigade de Vero
- Chef Cheffe
- Crior
- Foodles
- Instant B
- Instant Lunch
- LB La Boite
- Le Bon Bocal
- Le Cercle Traiteur
- Maison Alexandre Traiteur Paris
- Serenest
- Tout & Bon
List of charts presented in this market study
- Workforce
- Business start-ups (excluding micro-entrepreneurs)
- Sales trend for meal trays
- France's aging population
- Number of people aged 60 and over losing their independence
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Latest news
Foodles aims for leadership in responsible connected canteens" | "Foodles, market leader in responsible canteens". - 10/02/2023
- Over 550 fridges installed
- Sales doubled every year for the past three years
- Target of 100 million euros in sales by 2025
- Fundraising of 9 million euros in 2019
- Fundraising of 31 million euros in 2021
- Installation of 250 new fridges in 2022
- 350 customers in total
- Company founded in 2015
- 15 employees recruited in London by 2022
- 17 corporate customers and 2,000 guests in the Marseille area
Food boxes: La Brigade de Véro sets its sights on Northern Europe - 13/11/2022
- 2.000 boxes delivered per week in France and Belgium
- Sales of 6 million euros in 2021, forecast of 7.5 million euros in 2022
- 66 employees
- Premium positioning, average basket of 88 euros per person, for an average subscription duration of ten weeks per year
- Target 10 million next year, and 20 million by 2025
Vermaat and Serenest: a marriage of convenience - 04/11/2021
- Serenest and Vermaat to merge in 2019
- Serenest specializes in company canteens in Paris-IDF (63 catering outlets)
- Vermaat, owned by bridgepoint, is the Dutch market leader in high-end catering and hospitality services.
- Serenest has sales of €80 million.
- Serenest's partner, Vermaat, has sales of €300 million in 2019
- Serenest brings its network and knowledge of the French market to Vermaat, which wants to set up in France.
- Vermaat helps structure Serenest
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