During the four weeks of sporting events at the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Paris 2024, over 13 million meals will be served to spectators, athletes, and other personnel. Such an endeavor presents significant logistical challenges and nutritional hurdles to satisfy elite athletes, alongside cultural complexities in meeting the diverse dietary preferences of a global audience, all while showcasing French cuisine and striving to minimize carbon emissions.
Organizing the provision of 13 million meals for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games may have induced moments of “vertigo” and a few “cold sweats” for Sodexo Live! teams. This sports and cultural venue caterer has been entrusted with the monumental task of nourishing the spectators, staff, and athletes at the Olympic Village, 14 Olympic sites, and 8 Paralympic event sites.
It is a major challenge to provide both the quantity and quality of meals that must meet everyone’s needs and promote French cuisine, whilst simultaneously limiting the environmental impact as part of the Paris 2024 organizing committee’s commitments.
For the 15,000 athletes whose events will take place in the Île-de-France region, meals will mainly be served in the heart of the 52-hectare Olympic village, in “the world’s largest restaurant” with 3,500 seats in the nave of the Cité du Cinéma in Saint-Denis, specially arranged for the occasion.
Although a hammer thrower may not have the same needs as a gymnast, the overarching goal remains consistent: to combine “nutrition with culinary delights,” according to Carole Galissant, Sodexo’s Director of Food Transition and Nutrition, who wants to offer athletes meals that fit in with their dietary protocol but are still gourmet.
However, it remains essential not to overlook the nutritional requirements of high-level sports, including muscle fiber construction and repair, energy intake, and safeguarding of athletes’ bodies. A reception service will provide nutritional advice to athletes at the entrance of the canteen.
The imperative of matching cultural eating habits
Nutritionist Catherine Lefebvre also emphasizes that “it is essential for the athlete not to change their eating habits. Doing so could lead to discomfort that could affect their performance during their competition.”
Chefs designed the menus, which were reviewed by sports nutritionists before being sent to the national Olympic committees of the 206 sports delegations, who were able to ensure that the athletes’ meals reflected their dietary and cultural habits. Canada, for example, was particularly careful that there was a consistent offer of gluten-free dishes.
“Our offering has to reflect the cultural requirements of athletes from around the world,” assures Franck Chanevas, CEO of Sodexo Live!.
Chef Charles Guilloy oversaw the creation of 500 recipes to provide 40,000 meals per day to athletes, 24⁄7.
Four districts of the village will be dedicated to Asian, Caribbean-African, international, and French cuisine, respectively, to allow foreign athletes to maintain the diet they are accustomed to and “feel at home,” Carole Galissant said.
They will find classics such as grilled meats, pizzas, burgers, pasta (regular, whole grain, or gluten-free), noodles, and rice vermicelli, along with kimchi, mafé, or yakitori beef skewers. Vegetables will be offered in three cooking styles: steamed, sautéed, or roasted.
However, all four quarters will offer French cheeses without exception, such as brie de Meaux, Camembert, and Ossau-Iraty.
French cuisine in the spotlight
Some athletes have expressed culinary frustrations during previous Olympics, such as in Rio or London.
So, the Paris Olympics are an opportunity to introduce international athletes to French gastronomy, a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. “We try to show that we are in France,” explains Carole Galissant on the boat that will host the French delegation during the opening ceremony.
During these Olympics, the choices are to be varied enough for athletes to compose their plates according to their needs, with the possibility of indulging in a blanquette de veau (veal stew) — with a lightened sauce — a Paris-Brest, or a Parisian Flan (French Custard Pie).
In addition, athletes will have the opportunity to learn how baguettes are made in the village bakery and prepare French gourmet dishes. One area, the Grab & Go XXL, will be entirely dedicated to French gastronomic know-how, with dishes signed by Alexandre Mazzia, a three-star Michelin chef, Amandine Chaignot, and Akrame Benallal, whose dishes are featured on the menu of his high-end Parisian restaurant.
Reimagined dishes with environmental objectives for spectators
At event venues, spectators won’t be able to sample dishes prepared especially for the athletes, but will be able to enjoy other, sometimes revisited, recipes.
Spectators from all over the world will still be able to find a classic French croque-monsieur, a local ham from l’Estaque in Marseille, or saucisse Lyonnaise from Lyon. But it won’t go as far as offering Breizh Cola, a local soda from Brittany (Breizh means Brittany in the local Breton language) at Olympic venues, as Coca-Cola, the official sponsor of the Olympics frequently criticized for the pollution generated by its plastic bottles, holds the exclusivity of supply.
Nevertheless, to meet the environmental objectives of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which aim to halve the carbon emissions from meals, 60% of the dishes offered to the general public will be meat-free.
The ham-egg-cheese galette will thus be replaced by a recipe based on zucchini, lemon, and arugula pesto.
Even the staple of sporting events, the hot dog, is getting a mordern twist: its recipe will include a plant-based sausage, red cabbage, and honey mustard condiment. At the Place de la Concorde, which will host the 3×3 basketball, street and park skateboarding, BMX freestyle and breaking events, only vegetarian dishes will be offered.
For Sodexo Live!, the environmental objectives represent a unique opportunity to establish a “new way of doing things,” more environmentally responsible. Even sportsmen and women will have the opportunity to participate with 60% vegetarian pasta sauces and a vegetarian… beef bourguignon.
