French MP’s bill aims to take a bite out of reheated restaurant food

French Socialist MP Daniel Fasquelle is pushing a bill to restrict the use of the label “restaurant” to those establishments that prepare their food from scratch.

He is taking this stance as many French restaurants don’t cook their own food; they serve up reheated industrial dishes as this method is easier to manage and more profitable.

Fasquelle says the model for his bill is a 1998 law limiting use of the word “boulangerie” to bakeries that make their own dough, which has been credited with an improvement in French bread.

Demand from restaurants that serve pre-packaged food has spawned an industry of food suppliers and delivery companies. Davigel, a unit of Nestlé, has 3,000 staff in France, where it has 66,000 clients for its 3,000 products. This week’s online offers include dishes such as lentils and sausage for €6.50/kg and Provencal-style pork stew for €7.82/kg.

Brakes Group, a British company owned by Bain Capital, has 43 sites to distribute 3,400 food products to 43,000 clients in France. The company, which had 2011 revenue of €592m in France, says it rolls out a new dish for restaurants every three days.

A survey by restaurant association Synhorcat said 31% of restaurants use some industrially made dishes.

“If a third admit to it, then the real number must be about half,” said Alain Fontaine, a 55-year-old eighth-generation Parisian who owns Le Mesturet.

Products are 21% of his costs and personnel take up 45%. After upkeep, taxes, and utilities, he says he can make a margin of 6% to 7%. With prepared foods and a smaller staff, he could make 9% to 10%, he said.

— Bloomberg