Elior Group today announced its first sustainable sourcing commitments for three ingredients: eggs, palm oil and fish.

Eggs: Elior Group has committed to ending cage egg sourcing before 2025 and to promote animal welfare.

In the US, Elior has already forged a partnership with the Humane Society of the United States[1] to promote animal welfare and protection: by 2020, the 10 million eggs sourced every year in the country will all be open range. In the UK, Elior supports the government's Live Transport Welfare initiative whose objectives, among other things, include reducing the transportation of livestock over long distances. In France, Elior requests that its suppliers sign an animal welfare charter and integrate a control of animal living and slaughtering conditions in their audits.

Palm oil: Elior Group has made a commitment to ban palm oil or only use sustainable palm oil products.

In France, Elior stopped using 100% palm oil in 2004 and has accompanied its suppliers by substituting it with another type of vegetable oil since 2011.

Elior Group is accompanying the deployment of sustainable palm oil. In France, certain products (notably biscuits) already contain RSPO certified palm oil[2]. In the UK, Elior supports the UK government’s policy inciting companies to source 100%-certified sustainable palm oil before the end of 2016.

Fish: Elior Group has committed to preserving biodiversity by adopting a dynamic and proactive fish-population sourcing policy in line with the evolution of marine ecosystems and the recommendations of expert stakeholders. 

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 and has put a stop to buying certain endangered fish, such as grenadiers, red tuna, blue ling, black scabbardfish and most shark species. 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.

 

[1] International association for the defense of animals

[2] Round table on Sustainable Palm Oil

These commitments are part of the Group's Positive Foodprint PlanTM  whose goal is to leave a positive foodprint 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,
  • 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.