Elior and Mr.Goodfish today signed a partnership agreement to enhance the offering of fish products sourced from sustainable fisheries in Elior restaurants in France. This agreement underscores the continued commitment of Elior to preserve biodiversity by adapting its seafood sourcing policy in line with marine ecosystems and recommendations of expert stakeholders. This offering will be tested at Elior Group premium B&I restaurants, under the Arpège catering brand.

The aim of the Mr.Goodfish European program is to raise the awareness of the public and professionals to the sustainable consumption of seafood products. Every season, Mr.Goodfish publishes a list of seafood products recommended by maritime-resources specialists to involve the general public in the preservation of seafood resources.

Alongside Mr.Goodfish, Arpège restaurants have committed to:

  • Feature a Mr.Goodfish-recommended seafood product on the menu once a week. These products respect three key criteria, namely: the season, the minimum authorized size (for fish to be able to reproduce at least once), and the state of fish stock in every fishing zone,
  • Raise the awareness of all its guests to the consumption of sustainable seafood products sourced from responsible fisheries: letting consumers discover an innovative and delicious range of fish and seafood products, and proposing a variety of recipes and species,
  • Involve chefs in promoting less common fish species and in raising the awareness of restaurant guests.  

According to Jean-Philippe Quérard, Elior France Executive Vice-President in charge of offerings, procurement and innovation, "this partnership with Mr.Goodfish underpins the CSR strategy of the Group and our commitment to respect biodiversity. Our two-fold objective is to raise the awareness of our guests and employees to environmental challenges and to cook and sublimate innovative and seasonal seafood dishes for our guests.”

Joint-chairman of the World Ocean Network and CEO of NAUSICAA, Philippe Vallette explained: "Within the context of this partnership, by informing consumers in its restaurants and raising the awareness of its distribution partners, Elior has engaged all the links in the seafood product chain.” 

Florence Huron, the national coordinator of the Mr.Goodfish program, added: "The partnership between Mr.Goodfish and Elior will enable consumers to discover new fish species, encourage them to buy seafood products that are in season and thus adopt more environment-friendly consumer practices."

This partnership with Mr.Goodfish is in line with Elior Group’s Positive Foodprint PlanTM whose goal is to leave a positive footprint on the planet by 2025, with four objectives:

  • Objective n°1: For 100% of the Group’s guests to be able to choose healthy and delicious food by 2025,
  • Objective n°2: For 10 of the Group’s major ingredients to meet sustainable and local sourcing criteria, with the first three of these being eggs, palm oil and seafood products,
  • Objective n°3: Zero food waste to landfill,
  • Objective n°4: For 70% of Group’s managers to come from internal promotions, contributing to personal advancement and diversity.

For ten years, Elior Group has implemented a responsible sourcing strategy designed to preserve maritime biodiversity. In France, the Group is a founder member of the Responsible Fishing alliance. It has stopped buying certain endangered fish (including most shark species), and centralized these recommendations in a guide for its restaurant managers. The Group has also banned the purchase of fish caught in wild fisheries in the Baltic Sea due to the intense industrial activity in this zone and the accumulation of controversial carcinogenic chemical molecules (dioxins and PCB). In the UK, Elior only serves fish that are approved by the Marine Conservation Society and has blacklisted 19 fish species.