Edenred has chosen World Food Day to organize its first edition of "Ideal meal Day.""
For this occasion, employees from 28 of the Group's subsidiaries and several partners have been invited to take part in targeted actions around the following theme:"What is the 'Ideal' recipe in your country?"
The following local initiatives will support the event:
- In India, the subsidiary's 450 employees will come up with their "Ideal" recipes for lunch.Chefs from affiliated restaurants in the Ticket Restaurant® network will vote for the best recipe and present recommendations for healthy cooking.
- In Brazil, Poland and Peru, beneficiaries of Edenred solutions will receive nutritional advice or exclusive promotional offers.
- In China, Turkey and the United Kingdom, nutritionists will present the principles of a healthy diet to employees during customized coaching sessions.
A publication compiling all of the selected recipes (one per country) will be distributed to the Group's partners starting in January 2014. Recipes will be voted on by employees or evaluated by restaurant chefs based on two criteria: nutritional balance and flavor.
An original program supported by the Group's employees
Ideal Meal is the primary component of Ideal, our corporate social responsibility policy, alongside Ideal Green and Ideal Care, its environmental and solidarity focuses
Jeanne Renard,
Executive Vice-President for Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility.
This day will also mark the launch of Ideal Meal, whose aim is to develop a program promoting balanced nutrition in all of the Group's host countries by 2016.
Edenred is relying on its employees to develop its actions. A study has been conducted since 2013 to find out what makes up an "Ideal" meal during employees' work weeks.
In a first phase, the study was undertaken in Mexico, the United States, Poland and Belgium. It will be extended to the Group's other countries by 2015.
The results will make it possible to develop appropriate local action plans aimed at Group’s clients, beneficiaries, and affiliates.
A historic commitment
Edenred, which invented the Ticket Restaurant® meal voucher 50 years ago, has helped spread the practice of taking a lunch break and rolled out countless initiatives promoting balanced nutrition to employees.
The Group has launched several programs related to its core business that have already reached over 5.4 million beneficiaries and 130,000 affiliates in 13 countries.
Three major initiatives are being carried out by Edenred's subsidiaries:
- The Nutritional Balance program, created in 2005 in Latin America. It enables Ticket Restaurant® users to identify, thanks to the Gustino mascot, menu items in the restaurants that meet the criteria of a balanced diet.
- The European FOOD (Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand) program launched in 2008. Its aim is to improve the eating habits of employees during the workday.
- The Avante program, launched in 2012 in Brazil. Its goal is to train restaurant owners and beneficiaries in the principles of a healthy diet, in order to combat obesity.