For employees, the lunch break rhymes with conviviality; a ritual when one eats with the same people at the same time. But what about people who are new, or shy? To make it easier to get to know people in the workplace, Elior Group has entered into a new partnership with the start-up Never Eat Alone whose application helps organize lunches between colleagues.

Launched just a year ago, Never Eat Alone has enjoyed considerable success and is now looking to step up growth both in France and abroad. Its application connects office employees and company neighbors at lunch time. The aim is not only to foster meetings and bring people of similar tastes and interests together but also to encourage intra-company collaboration.

Commenting on this new partnership, Philippe Salle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Elior Group, stated: “Elior Group is reinventing the lunch break which has to be a convivial moment as well as a tasty experience.  This is being made possible today thanks to digitalization and the talent of startups like Never Eat Alone.”

 Founder of Never Eat Alone, Marie Schneegans went on to say: “We look forward to growing our company with Elior Group as a partner. The dynamism and strength of the Elior Group teams immediately made us want to work together.  Elior Group has an extraordinary awareness of digitalization; a factor which makes it one of the bridgeheads of FoodTech.”

This partnership comes with an equity stake in the start-up and is in line with the Life4 innovation program laid out in the Elior Group 2016-2020 strategic plan. Within the context of this program, the Group seeks out, supports and promotes FoodTech talent. With the backing of mentoring and equity investment, start-ups can try out their innovations in Elior Group client restaurants and gauge their feasibility in the real world. For the Group, accompanying these fledgling enterprises is a way of contributing to the development of an ecosystem which will benefit the whole of the catering sector.