In a growing sector, 14 players are trying to do well. But there will not be room for everyone.
Five million French people benefit from it every year. The meal voucher sector is a lucrative market for many players. Issuers who design them, companies who make them available, employees who use them and merchants who accept them… Not to mention the State which supplements the available budget, by exempting this salary advantage from social security contributions and income tax. In a 9 billion euro market, appetites are whetting.
Faced with newcomers who want to make a place for themselves, historic issuers defend a share acquired and consolidated sometimes for 60 years. For some, there will only be crumbs to grab.
In just a few years, the sector has changed. To understand what is happening here, you need a little history. The companies issuing meal vouchers are responsible for the circulation but also the reimbursement of the vouchers used as a means of payment. In 2017, the sector remained under the domination of the four players: Edenred, Sodexo, BPCE and UP. In 2024, no less than 14 protagonists are competing for the market.
A locked market?
The latest arrivals covertly evoke a model locked by historical actors. In a report published in October 2023, the Competition Authority effectively notes “the existence of barriers to entry” and established market concentration.
“The combined market share of these players is greater than 99% in 2022, with individual market shares being between 10 and 40%,” we can read.
The various companies interviewed deny the existence of barriers to entry. “Different models coexist in the meal voucher sector. At Pluxee, we believe that everyone can enter the market with their uniqueness. It should also be noted that the market is only approximately 25% equipped, which leaves room.” , indicates Malena Gufflet, general manager of Pluxee France (formerly Sodexo) since 2023.
“There is room for innovation,” says Loic Soubeyrand, founder of Swile. There are indeed historical players, but that does not mean that they prevent the arrival of new entrants, provided that there are has a truly disruptive innovation at stake.”
“The market is not locked, but from there we see room for 14 or 15 players,” tempers the latter.
The challenge of innovation
The market is initially based on a system of double commissions. Upstream of the chain, a fairly minimal commission charged to companies which provide meal vouchers to their employees. And downstream, a commission charged to merchants who accept them as a means of payment. Which consider them high for the service rendered. The question of commissions gave rise to a referral to the Competition Authority by the Minister of the Economy.
The general manager of Edenred France, Ilan Ouanounou, says: “The main beneficiaries of meal vouchers are the merchants and restaurateurs who accept them. The issuers of meal vouchers, through their commercial action, will seek money from the companies to direct it towards traders for an amount which amounts to nearly 9 billion euros per year.
“This business contribution, which represents around 20% of restaurants’ turnover, has a value which must be fairly remunerated,” he continues.
As for the commissions considered too high, the CEO of Endenred explains: “There is an investment in the technical and commercial system of the issuing company. This has a cost”.
In this double commission model, an issuer will be all the stronger the more companies that choose it and the larger its affiliate network. So how do you stand out when you want to penetrate this market?
A now “former new entrant” bet on innovation in 2018. “We wanted to improve the value proposition. Instead of paper, we had the idea of putting everything on a card. Then adding other benefits that benefit employees, gift certificates, mobility solutions”, confides Loic Soubeyrand, founder of Swile who claims to have put “a kick in the anthill”. And the small became big, to the point of buying the meal voucher activity of BPCE (formerly Natixis) and taking 32% of market share.
Payment by card, a small revolution which also accompanied the dematerialization of pieces of paper. Now all the actors have gone a la carte. “70% of the meal voucher market has been dematerialized, and at Pluxee, we are above this ratio,” confirms Malena Gufflet.
New business models tested by the market
After the acceleration of dematerialization, other partitions must be invented. At the start-up May, we propose to bring together all employee benefits: “The idea is to pool everything in the same place by centralizing the nine exempt benefits”, indicates Yasmina Kersimon, account executive of the fintech. “The company determines the amount allocated to the employee, who can then distribute their pot as they see fit, with the exception of the daily ceiling allocated to restaurant vouchers.” As for the debates on complete dematerialization, the young company is proposing no less than removing all physical support, and directly linking the benefits collected by the employee to their bank account. So no more separate payment methods.
If the employee chooses to link his bank account to his employee benefits, he himself advances the funds which are then reimbursed to him by the companies. In fact, the startup relies on the recognition of bank entries and does not seek to set up a commercial network.
In this approach, only businesses are billed. But this business model has its limits. Loic Soubeyrand of Swile notes: “If you put all the financial weight of the commission system on companies, you reduce the number of subscriber companies and mechanically you reduce the contribution of business at the other end of the chain” .
In other words, the risk is that companies that are offered high commission fees will give up offering meal vouchers to their employees. For some players, restaurateurs would also be attached to the historical business-providing model.
“We have the opposite observation at May. For certain restaurateurs, commissions have increased and meal vouchers are even refused. Our model which does not take commissions from them is well received,” defends Yasmina Kersimon.
In summary, the different actors gauge each other without recognizing it and evaluate the relevance of the different models.
“No matter the business model, and where you receive commissions, you need a minimum volume and reaching a critical size for it to be viable,” warns Loic Soubeyrand.
In this race for growth, other innovations are being implemented. The possibility of additional payment to link your bank card when the ceiling is exceeded, mobile payment and the expansion of the range of benefits available.
“We are attached to the essence of meal vouchers and we offer a total of 12 services dedicated to employees, i.e. a very exhaustive range, including mobility or gift vouchers,” smiles the director of Pluxee France. If the meal voucher is plebicity, the gift voucher remains the one that pleases the French the most.
