Sodexo Meatless Monday Survey Results

Following a full year of implementation, Sodexo North America’s Meatless Monday health and wellness initia­tive has been well received and successful in motivating customers to eat more plant-based meals. According to a survey of 245 food service sites, roughly 49% saw an increase in vegetable purchases and about 30% reported decreased meat purchases.

Sodexo first launched Meatless Monday in January 2011. The global food service, facilities and energy manage­ment company, which serves more than 9.3 million meals a day, encouraged its sites to promote and add the option of plant-based entrées to their menus each week and to promote the importance of increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Nearly three quarters of those surveyed, 74 percent, of­fered the promotion at their client sites. More than half of the participating providers, 65 percent, said they would continue to promote Meatless Monday. An addi­tional 24 percent said they might continue promoting the campaign at their facilities. The majority of sites found neither a decrease nor increase in sales, and one account found that customers were willing to pay as much for meatless options as for those containing meat proteins. This suggests that the Meatless Monday promotion, on average, maintains sales and may increase customer sat­isfaction.

The majority of the food service sites were split between corporate services (50 percent) and health care (47 per­cent) accounts, with the remaining three percent com­prised of government accounts. There were important differences between these sectors. Overall, the health care accounts had a more positive response to the campaign and reported an almost 42 percent perceived positive cus­tomer response. Providers from both the corporate ser­vices and health care sectors, irrespective of their level of participation in Meatless Monday, noted that they per­ceived the campaign as a demonstration of Sodexo’s com­mitment to health and wellness, and indicated this was a key benefit of the promotion.