The Olympic Games mean more to the food industry than serving as a picking ground for potential brand sponsors – though we’ve already seen a few of those ( 👀 Siete Foods). The Paris 2024 Olympic Games officially begin today, and while PRIME fights it out over a controversial LTO, and CPG savant Snoop Dogg carries the torch, we’ve got our eyes on the menu and what it signals about global eating patterns.
Not only are the Paris Summer Olympics the first version of the event since pandemic era restrictions have been lifted (reminder: the Tokyo games saw plenty of masking, testing and social distancing), it is also being hosted in the “land of gastronomy.” So while most spectators only care about the sports, we are here to look at how athletes will be gathering and what kind of grub they’ll get. Lay of the Land: Three French chefs – Akrame Benallal, Amandine Chaignot and Alexandre Mazzia – will be running the cafeterias (which have been notably renamed to “restaurants” this year), and nearly 60% of the items on the menu will be plant-based. The organization expects to serve over 13 million meals during the twin 15-day spans comprising the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Speaking to The New York Times, Olympic food and beverage manager Philipp Würz described the fare as “lean, multicultural and vegetarian.” The preference for plants is no mistake. While some may jump to conclude this indicates the direction of rising food trends, it was also a deliberate decision that comes down to the Olympics’ own ESG goals. What They Said: “For Paris 2024, catering during the Olympic and Paralympic Games is above all a huge operational challenge… It will be the largest catering event in the world. But as the climate emergency looms greater than ever, it is also an enormous environmental and social challenge that we must rise to,” said Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 president, in a statement on the event’s ‘Food Vision.’ That vision was developed with input from nearly 120 organizations up and down the value chain, from waste management experts to nutritionists. The result is a focus on plant-based, local and sustainable food: “Our ambition is to harness the creativity of French cuisine to drive the food transition,” the menu manifesto proclaims. Overall, the food vision outlines a plan to serve 50% less animal products than past games and two times the amount of plant-based foods. Meanwhile, 100% of the beef, eggs and dairy ingredients will be ethically and sustainably sourced from local French suppliers. But for an event serving over 15,000 athletes from 208 different territories and nations, there are bound to be some special requests. According to the Times, the Americans mailed over plenty of protein shakes, pretzels, popcorn, jerky, energy bars and peanut butter. The Koreans asked for kimchi, and the Japanese insisted on miso, the Times notes, but several Caribbean nations were out of luck when sustainability regulations prohibited their request for passion fruit, since the Games do not allow ingredients imported by air. That means whatever the restaurants are serving up will have to suffice According to Estanguet, “the common denominator between them all: healthy, gourmet and creative food, with more plant-based and local options at affordable prices!” | 
