When you eat in
a restaurant in the U.K. or the U.S. you probably wouldn't think twice about
asking the waiter for a bag or box so you can take that nice piece of steak you
couldn't quite finish home for Rover, or even for yourself. In France, however,
the doggy bag is still not quite the done thing – so much so that if you asked
for one in a restaurant you might come in for some strange looks from the
person serving you, and a good deal of mockery (behind your back) from other
diners. But, as a result of the present European year of fight against waste,
all this could be about to change.
For while most French still tend to make
fun of the doggy bag, in a world where resources are increasingly limited some
restaurants, companies and internet sites are now doing their best to promote
this Anglo-Saxon invention as a means of combating waste. And in France where,
according to a study conducted in 2011, each person throws away on average 21%
of food bought (that's 90 kg of food per year), 8% of which hasn't even been
removed from its packaging, this kind of waste is coming in for more and more
criticism. And it's the restaurants which seem to be taking the lead. According
to a recent survey which questioned 2,700 restaurants in the Rhône-Alpes region
restaurant owners' greatest fear is that their customers will become ill after
eating left-overs which have not been kept in the best of conditions at home.
In this respect, however, they can rest assured as, legally speaking,
restaurants can no longer be held responsible for a dish which was started in
their restaurant and then taken away in a doggy bag. A total of 31% of the
establishments questioned already offer or are thinking of offering a box or
bag which customers can use to take uneaten food home. And 86% of them
feel that, since the customer has paid for the entire meal, he's entitled to
take the left-overs away. It's also a good preparation for 2016 when
restaurants will be legally obliged to limit organic waste.
What's more, some young entrepreneurs see this as a market
opening, and are doing their best to make the bag or box more attractive. This
is certainly the case with the Trop bon pour gaspiller (Too Good
to Waste) project launched by Laurent and Rabaïa Calvayrac. 'We've lived in
North America where the practice is very common,' says Rabaïa. 'When we came
back to France we decided to try to make it more popular by improving the
quality of the box. We think this is very important.' As a result they've
produced a luxury doggy bag - a rigid, recyclable, bio-degradable box suitable
for both microwave and normal ovens (up to 180°C), and made in France. The
problem is that, in spite of its qualities, only small quantities (5,000) will
be produced to begin with. And the cost price will be around 1€, a bit too
expensive to hope for massive success, even though those restaurants who have
shown interest say they're willing to make an effort as far as the price is
concerned. In addition, Rest-o-Resto, a Grenoble-based company, is
compiling an online directory of restaurants which offer a doggy bag or box. At
present it has 130 addresses from 11 towns. And the numbers are expanding. 'The
reactions we get vary from one restaurant to another,' admits Alexandre
Teodosio. 'Some owners are very enthusiastic, while for others it's unthinkable
that a meal should end up in a bag or box.' The company is in the process of
developing a box which will be less upmarket than the Trop bon pour
gaspiller one. France's Belgian neighbours, on the other hand, have
adopted a different approach to making the doggy bag more acceptable. This
involves finding not only a suitable French name but - since most left-overs
are taken home for human consumption - one less associated with a canine. It
doesn't seem to be an easy task, however, as their site has just launched a
Facebook consultation page inviting people to come up with their suggestions.
Among these can be found Restopack, Restrobon (Restes
trop bons pour être jetés = left-overs too good to be thrown away), or
even Gaspipa.
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