Culinary and Technological Innovation: 40 Start-ups Inventing the Catering Model of the Future with Elior Group

News provided by

Elior Group

22 Mar, 2017, 10:00 GMT

PARIS, March 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

As part of its 2020 strategic plan, Elior Group is continuing to break ground and ensure it has the means to pursue innovation. Out of 24,000 start-ups identified worldwide, 130 were pre-selected and 40 retained to work with Elior Group to invent the catering model of the future. Coming from all over the world, the 40 successful start-ups were presented at Group headquarters on March 20, 2017 to step up the transformation of the Group and catering itself.  

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353501LOGO )

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/481067/Elior_Group.jpg )

The 40 start-ups were selected on the basis of two themes:

  • The catering model of the future
  • E-health

In 2015, Elior Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Philippe Salle created the Group's culinary and technological innovation program, Life[4] (Let's Imagine Future Experiences). The aim of the Group's international Life[4] Start-up Program is to seek out and promote forward-looking projects which could become innovations that impact catering activities. By providing mentoring support or acquiring a stake in start-ups, Elior Group will enable them to experiment their innovations' POC[1] in Group restaurants and measure their feasibility on a large scale.

The activities of these start-ups are all related to the Group's businesses: catering and all associated activities and services (digitalization of points of sale, enhanced consumer experience, robotization, etc.). The start-ups were selected for the quality and feasibility of their projects and their teams, with the aim to forging partnerships and implementing innovative projects in the Group's restaurants and points of sale.

Relationships with start-ups are built up in three stages:

  1. Identifying and detecting talent, through a network and a dedicated organization.  
  2. Providing start-ups with a playing field so that they can try out their innovations in Group restaurants. Elior Group is currently working with the following European start-ups: GoCater (la Belle Assiette), FoodMeUp, Touch and Play, Never Eat Alone, Rose & Mary, Vitalista, Foodles and PopChef.
  3. Accompanying start-ups in their worldwide development. The aim of the international Life[4] Start-up Program is to seek out and promote forward-looking projects which could become innovations that impact catering businesses.

--------------------------------------------------

1. Proof of Concept

Click here for more information and news of upcoming events