French restaurants certified organic: what does that mean?

Pauline Masotta | 9/14/23

For Agence Bio, it's essential to encourage chefs to offer organic produce. To this end, the public body is launching a program, and restaurants will soon be able to obtain certification.

On the occasion of the Sirha Omnivore culinary festival, the French organic food agency Agence Bio pointed the finger at the lack of organic produce on restaurant menus. "Currently, France's 170,000 restaurants offer only 1% organic produce on their menus. From there,we can only make progress", insisted Laure Verdeau, Director of Agence Bio.

A community of "ambassador chefs

The "CuisinonsPlusBio" program, co-financed by the European Union to the tune of 1.9 million euros, will be supported by a network of "chef ambassadors". The ambassadors come from a variety of culinary backgrounds: from foodtruck chefs to gourmet restaurants and school canteens, they've all already taken the plunge and gone organic. The idea is to inspire as many people as possible to offer organic products to those who don't yet dare to take the plunge, particularly for financial reasons. These chefs will be responsible for explaining this approach, and how they manage to remain profitable, at trade shows.

"Chefs in commercial and institutional catering are key players in promoting a healthy, balanced diet based on organic produce. Thanks to them, out-of-home catering is becoming a place for taste education and awareness-raising. The challenge for us is also to convince citizens to extend their commitment to organic food in restaurants", explained Loïc Guines, President of Agence Bio.

Certified organic restaurants

In the same vein, some restaurants will soon be able to boast organic certification. And for this, there's no need to revamp the entire menu in favor of a 100% organic menu. As soon as half the dishes on offer are made from organic produce, the restaurant will be able to display an "AB" logo.

From January 1, three levels of certification will be envisaged:

The first category will apply to establishments for which supplies of organic products represent between 50% and 75% of the total value of purchases.
The second category will apply to establishments where these supplies represent between 75% and 95% of the total value of purchases.
The third category will apply to establishments whose supplies of organic products represent at least 95% of their purchases.