EDENRED S.A.: 2017 FOOD SURVEY: ONE OUT OF TWO EMP

Press release October 19, 2017

2017 FOOD SURVEY:

ONE OUT OF TWO EMPLOYEES PERCEIVE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AS A VALUABLE TOOL IN IMPROVING EATING HABITS

The fifth FOOD survey has confirmed that employees and restaurant owners are paying greater attention to the nutritional balance of their lunch meals over the years.

Coordinator of the FOOD (Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand) program, Edenred surveyed more than 20,000 employees this year - almost twice as many as in 2016 - and nearly 1,300 restaurant owners in eight European countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain ^[1] . The survey findings will be presented on October 19, 2017 during the #LetsTalkFood webcast organized by Edenred and at a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Since 2012, Edenred has carried out the FOOD survey in Europe to evaluate the needs of employees and encourage restaurants to offer more balanced meals. The trends observed in recent years include a significant increase in awareness, among both suppliers and consumers, of the benefits of eating a balanced diet.

The survey findings will be presented during a webcast on www.letstalkfood.net on October 19, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. (Paris time). This interactive round table discussion, co-presented by Bertrand Dumazy , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edenred, Nathalie Renaudin , Coordinator of the FOOD program and Sylvie Dejardin , a nutritionist, will be followed by a conference at the European Parliament at 2:00 p.m. Alongside Bertrand Dumazy , distinguished guests participating in the conference include: John F. Ryan , the European Commission's Director for Public Health, Dirk Meusel , Scientific Project Officer, Health Unit, at the European Commission's Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA), Birgit Morlion , mHealth Program and Policy Officer in the European Commission's DG CONNECT, Daciana Sarbu , Member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, Alojz Peterle , Member of the European Parliament and Co-Chair of the Health working group within the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, Pedro Graça , Director of the National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating in Portugal's Directorate-General of Health, Martin Caraher , Professor of Food and Health Policy at City University, London, and Giuseppe Masanotti , MD and Professor of Hygiene and Public Health at the University of Perugia, Italy.

The 2017 study focused on the resources used to encourage these trends in eating habits and particularly on the role that new technologies could play.

Accordingly, the survey shows that half of the employees surveyed (50%) believe that new technologies could help them to adopt healthier eating habits and nearly half of the restaurant owners (46%) confirm that new technologies would be useful in more efficiently meeting their customers' requests for balanced meals. This question garnered very different responses among the countries surveyed: while half of the employees in Portugal, Slovakia, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic identified new technologies as a valuable tool in adopting more balanced eating habits, 42% of French employees did not yet find them useful. Similar viewpoints were expressed by restaurant owners: while more than one out of two restaurant owners in Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and Italy perceived the new technologies as a valuable tool in offering healthy and balanced meals, 87% of French restaurant owners did not agree with this statement.

Eating a healthy and balanced diet: a concern for employees

Lunch breaks are a well-established habit in Europeans' daily lives given that 72 % of employees surveyed stated that they took a lunch break every day . This figure exceeds 80% for Portugal and Slovakia.

European employees are increasingly paying attention to the nutritional quality of lunchtime meals with three out of four employees making it a top criteria in choosing a restaurant . Similarly, one out of two employees considers the nutritional value of the meal when selecting their lunch menu. This selection criteria comes in as the second most important, right behind "current craving" and ahead of price. Strong national differences were observed in these questions: 87% of Italian employees consider that the nutritional balance of the meals served is an important criterion when selecting a restaurant versus 61% of Czech employees. The same disparity emerged for choosing an order: 73% of Spanish employees take into account the meal's nutritional balance when selecting food while this only influences 28% of French employees.

Increasingly engaged restaurant owners

Restaurant owners have confirmed their customers' keen interest in healthy menus over the years, with a growing number indicating a greater demand for balanced meals.

Between 2012 and 2016, the percentage of restaurant owners observing increased demand for balanced meals moved up almost 20 points (from 17% in 2012 to 36% in 2016). This percentage inched back slightly in 2017, but still remains high (30%). At the same time, only a marginal percentage of restaurant owners (around 2-3% each year, except in 2013 where it was 9%) reported a decrease in the demand for balanced meals. This backs up the viewpoint that, overall, customers are increasingly focused on a healthier diet.

Once again, clear differences between the countries surveyed were noted: more than six out of ten restaurant owners in Portugal and Spain observed that their customers were increasingly focused on the balanced nature of their meal (67% and 64%, respectively) while, in France and the Czech Republic, only a respective 16% and 20% agreed.

"As the inventor of meal vouchers, Edenred has from its very beginnings been at the center of the relationship between restaurant owners, employees and companies. Today, one billion meals are served every year across the world under the Ticket Restaurant program, providing our Group with a privileged vantage point in observing eating habits at work. Thanks to the digitization of meal vouchers in the form of card and mobile transactions, we are better positioned than ever to promote access to healthy and balanced meals," said Bertrand Dumazy , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edenred.

"A source of information and an educational tool, new technologies and particularly mobile applications offer promising prospects in promoting balanced nutrition. The 2017 FOOD survey demonstrates that the feedback from employees and restaurant owners is a key driver in encouraging people to adopt a healthier diet during the workday," said Nathalie Renaudin , Coordinator of the FOOD program.

__

Edenred is the world leader in transactional solutions for companies, employees and merchants. Whether delivered via card, mobile app, online platform or paper voucher, all of these solutions mean increased purchasing power for employees, optimized expense management for companies and additional business for affiliated merchants. Edenred's offer is built around three business lines:

• Employee benefits (Ticket Restaurant ^® , Ticket Alimentación, Ticket Plus, Nutrisavings, etc.)
• Fleet and mobility solutions (Ticket Log, Ticket Car, UTA, Ticket Empresarial, etc.)
• Complementary solutions including corporate payments (Edenred Corporate Payment), incentives and rewards (Ticket Compliments, Ticket Kadéos) and public social programs.

The Group brings together a unique network of 43 million employees, 750,000 companies and public institutions, and 1.4 million affiliated merchants. Listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and part of the CAC Next 20 index, Edenred operates in 42 countries, with close to 8,000 employees. In 2016, the Group managed almost €20 billion in transactions, of which 70% were carried out via card, mobile device or the web. The logos and other trademarks mentioned and featured in this press release are registered trademarks of Edenred S.A., its subsidiaries or third parties. They may not be used for commercial purposes without prior written consent from their owners. Follow Edenred on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Edenred

The FOOD (Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand) program is a public-private partnership launched in 2009 to address the issue of growing obesity in Europe. First started as a pilot project in six countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden), it has now become an official program and also includes Austria, Portugal and Slovakia. Its main objective is to raise the awareness of employees and restaurant owners as to the importance of a healthy and balanced diet and to adapt offer to demand. Practical tools have been created to support these initiatives. Under this program, European-wide surveys are carried out each year to better understand and analyze societal trends and the needs of employees and restaurants. Edenred is the coordinator of the FOOD program and uses its unique Ticket Restaurant ^® network to reach target groups.

__

CONTACTS

^[1] In 2017, Edenred surveyed 20,323 employees (vs. 11,853 in 2016) and 1,295 restaurant owners.

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/Attachm...6b9f24313f