The sporting events of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) kick off on Wednesday, July 23, even before the official opening ceremony. The public will then enter the sports arenas. Sodexo Live! – the Sodexo Group brand specializing in hospitality and event management – will be providing catering at 14 of the competition sites scattered around Paris and its neighboring suburbs and regions.
The company's goal is ambitious: To contribute to the course set by the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, namely to halve the climate footprint of this competition compared to previous editions.
Sodexo Live! has assured us that more than 60% of the catering will be vegetarian. The ratio will even reach 100% at the Place de la Concorde, a site dedicated to sports such as skateboarding, breakdancing and BMX freestyle, likely to attract a young, urban audience. For 11 euros (roughly the same price in US dollars, currently around $12), they'll be offered falafel or nuggets with French fries. For the same price, they can opt for a grilled eggplant, tomato and feta sandwich. Other savory options (sandwiches, tarts, galettes and gyros) will range from 7 to 12 euros.
At the other competition sites, vegetarian burgers and hot dogs are on the menu. Pasta and rice salads, sandwiches and pancakes will be offered at prices ranging from 7 to 11 euros. Tarts, cookies, muffins, crêpes or fruit salads will cost between 4 and 6 euros.
Sodexo Live! wanted to create menus aimed at customers from all over the world, with a rather narrow price range. The company has also added a number of proposals that "pay homage to France's culinary heritage." These include L'Estaque ham in Marseille, Bobosse sausage in Lyon, a galettes Bretonnes (Breton pancakes) workshop in Versailles [department of Yvelines], and quiches from Lorraine at the Eiffel - Champ-de-Mars stadium [in Paris]. Coca-Cola, a powerful partner of the event, will be omnipresent in the drinks department (Fanta, Sprite, Minute Maid, etc.). Danone, another partner, will be showcasing its dairy and plant-based products.
Sodexo Live! will also be in charge of catering for the nearly 15,000 athletes. For the Olympians, the Cité du Cinéma in Saint-Denis (department of Seine-Saint-Denis) has been transformed into a giant restaurant – open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 70 days. Forty thousand meals will be served daily, therefore the logistical and human challenge is a major one. There will be three teams of 200 cooks – with just as many people to manage and deliver the products – and more than 500 servers for the 3,300 seats at the Cité du Cinéma. There will also be a 25% supply of short-distance products provided fewer than 250 kilometers from the site.
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