Consumption. Restaurant vouchers: restaurateurs demand the lifting of the ceiling on restaurant use

Restaurant owners want to end the cap on restaurant vouchers. Recipients should be able to use their entire balance in restaurants at once, the president of the French Association of Master Restaurateurs argued on Monday. However, he called for maintaining the daily cap in supermarkets, even though the system is undergoing reform .

"We must release all these reserves."

"Completely free up the ceiling for restaurants. That is to say, with teleworking, with so many things that have changed, there are 5.5 million restaurant voucher consumers who have reserves of restaurant vouchers," said Alain Fontaine, president of the French Association of Master Restaurateurs (AFMR), on TF1.

"So we need to free this up, either all year round or over Christmas or holiday periods, so that families can spend all these restaurant voucher reserves in one go. That's what's important," he stressed.

The reform of meal vouchers, spearheaded by Minister of Commerce and SMEs Véronique Louwagie, is making their use for food shopping permanent, sparking anger among professionals in the restaurant sector. The minister is counting on an application "in the fall of 2025 or spring of 2026."

The idea of a double ceiling on usage, higher in restaurants than in large-scale distribution, has been abandoned, to the great displeasure of restaurant employers' organizations, who are calling for this measure to be reintroduced.

"There is a purchasing power crisis"

"I'm not asking for this because the restaurant voucher system absolutely must change," Alain Fontaine said when asked about this point. According to him, however, "what needs to be done is that there is indeed a purchasing power crisis, so keep the ceiling for supermarkets at 25 euros (per day, editor's note) and, above all, never increase it."

The possibility of doing all your food shopping with these vouchers (except alcohol, confectionery, baby products and pet food), and only ready-to-eat items – a temporary system launched in 2022 and extended every year since – will be made permanent from 2027.

The government is highlighting the popularity of this option among employees, as well as a shift in consumption patterns, from teleworking to meals prepared at home and then brought to the workplace. Restaurant owners from Umih – the leading employers' organization in the sector – and GHR estimate their loss of earnings at €1.5 billion since the extension of the scheme to cover all grocery shopping.