5.4.3.4 Key progress indicators
Calculation method
Edenred’s progress on this commitment to support its stakeholders is measured annually based on the percentage of its subsidiaries certified for quality management, based on ISO 9001.
Performance monitoring
This percentage stood at 46% in 2021, with a target of 50% by 2022 and 85% by 2030.
5.4.4 Promoting well-being through healthy and sustainable nutrition
As a promoter of good eating habits and fighting obesity, Edenred tries to find pragmatic ways of addressing a serious public health issue: in 2016, close to 2 billion adults were considered obese or overweight according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This has led to a sharp increase in the number of people suffering from certain types of cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks, which in turn is putting significant strain on public health systems.
In addition, through its Ticket Restaurant and Ticket Alimentation solutions, Edenred is in direct contact with partner merchants, employee users and corporate clients who make daily food choices that are important for their health. With more than 900,000 corporate clients, 2 million partner merchants and over 50 million employee users, Edenred can take tangible action to promote healthy food choices.
Each subsidiary is encouraged to deploy its own projects with direct stakeholders – corporate clients, employee users, partner merchants and Edenred employees – to facilitate balanced nutrition. While these projects are tailored to the local situation and nutritional issues in each country, they are all designed to make a meaningful impact on stakeholder eating habits, as measured by dedicated indicators.
Broader communication on healthy eating is also encouraged, not only among the Group’s direct stakeholders, but also with the entire Edenred community through awareness-raising initiatives on social networks, newsletters and dedicated talks. In 2021, these initiatives reached more than 34 million people.
5.4.4.1 Priority issue: the promotion of sustainable and healthy food and the fight against food waste
Building on more than ten years of experience promoting healthy eating habits and fighting obesity, Edenred is working to step up its action in this area by developing solutions suited to its value chain and its contacts. This priority issue has become a positive differentiation opportunity for Edenred and a new way of developing products and services that meet the needs of various stakeholders. Examples include the FOOD (Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand) program, which encompasses the majority of the Group’s initiatives in Europe, and, in Latin America, the Balanced Nutrition program in Chile and the Ticket Fit solution in Brazil.
Edenred a coordinator of the FOOD program in Europe
Origin of the European project
The FOOD program was developed by Edenred and public-sector partners in six countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden) to support a balanced diet during the working day.
Launched in 2009 in response to alarming data on the rise in obesity in Europe, the campaign began as a test project co-financed by the European Commission, enabling partners to develop innovative recommendations and communication tools for employees and partner restaurants.
Bolstered by the encouraging results of the test project, and thanks to the enthusiasm of its partners, the FOOD partnership continued to thrive and became a long-term program in 2012. It has since expanded to Slovakia, Portugal, Austria and Romania.
As coordinator of the FOOD program, Edenred uses its Ticket Restaurant network to raise awareness about a well-balanced diet among employee users and partner restaurants.
Since 2009, more than 500 communication tools have been developed, helping to raise awareness around the issue among more than 7.4 million employees, 251,000 companies and 500,000 restaurants in the program’s ten member countries. A network of restaurants pledging to meet FOOD recommendations was also created with the aim of offering balanced lunchtime meals. Today it has more than 4,350 members.
As part of the program’s assessment work, barometer surveys are also carried out each year to better understand and analyze the needs of employee users and restaurants in terms of healthy eating. The 2021 FOOD survey was adapted to take into account the fact that the health crisis continued to hit the catering sector severely and impacted the eating habits of employees. The theme of food waste was also addressed this year. As in 2020, the questionnaire was extended to 20 of the Group’s host countries in order to gain a clearer picture of changes in supply and demand among Ticket Restaurant users and partner restaurants. On the one hand, it was important to see whether restaurants had been able to adapt durably to the uncertain health situation and new demands by consumers. On the other hand, it was necessary to gauge changes by users so as to grasp the impact of the crisis on their purchasing power and habits. The survey showed that 81% of users were satisfied with Ticket Restaurant’s new digital format and that it helped them secure their food budget, particularly against the backdrop of the crisis. The questionnaire also showed that the majority of restaurants had been able to change their sales process.
