Foodservices at a glance

 

Foodservice is a catering service at a remote site, characterised by a contract between a buyer and a supplier and aimed at defined, restricted groups. It can either be institutional, which is governed by a contract in which the buyer, who defines all requirements, is represented by the public administration and the service users are schools , hospitals or prisons; or private, where the the buyer is represented by private entities. The social aspect of foodservice is hugely significant, due to both the number of meals provided and the categories of service users, who are mostly made up of individuals at risk (elderly and children).
Members of Angem are the most representative in the industry and employ about 35,000 people.
The total size of the foodservice market is about 6.2 billion euro, 34% of which is represented by the healthcare sector (hospitals , clinics, nursing homes), 30% by schools, and the remaining 36% is catering to workplaces.
Outsourcing abroad to foodservice companies ranges from 96% in workplaces to 60% in the healthcare sector; in the specific case of education, outsourcing abroad represents about 65%.