EGalim assessment: how a French local authority measures its progress

Reaching the thresholds of EGalim — the French law setting quality targets for collective catering — requires knowing precisely how they are calculated, not merely aiming at them in the abstract. This guide covers the practical management of the assessment, complementing our guide on becoming a canteen supplier.

The thresholds, in one table

Everything is measured in purchase value excluding VAT, over a calendar year — never in number of meals or in volume.

| Threshold | Minimum share | Legal basis | |---|---|---| | Sustainable and quality products | 50% | EGalim law | | of which organic or in-conversion products | 20% | EGalim law | | Sustainable and quality meat and fish | 60% | Climate and Resilience law | | The State and its public bodies | 100% | Climate and Resilience law |

The deadlines are behind us, which is worth knowing when you inherit a file: the obligation has applied since 1 January 2022 to public collective catering, and since 1 January 2024 to all collective restaurants, private ones included — administrative and company restaurants among them. The thresholds are adapted in the DROM (France’s overseas departments and regions).

The deadline to anticipate now: the end of HVE level 2

This is the most actionable point in this guide, and it has a date. Level 2 environmental certification remains countable in the EGalim calculation until 31 December 2026. On 1 January 2027, it drops out of the count: only full HVE certification (Haute Valeur Environnementale, France’s high environmental value farm certification) is accepted.

In other words, a local authority that today reaches its 50% partly on the strength of level 2 certified products will see its rate fall mechanically on 1 January, without any of its suppliers having changed anything. The time to measure that exposure is now, not at the next declaration campaign.

“Ma cantine”: the national declaration tool, and its window

The official online declaration platform centralises the monitoring of EGalim thresholds for all collective restaurants in France — public and private alike, whether directly managed or run under concession. Each establishment declares there annually the share of its purchases meeting the “sustainable and quality” and “organic” criteria.

The campaign covers the previous year’s purchases and opens in January. For the 2025 financial year, it ran from 12 January to 31 March 2026, followed by a correction window from 15 to 29 April 2026, reserved for establishments that had already validated their declaration. Two practical points: the simplified entry mode is retained for all canteens, and a central kitchen can declare on behalf of its satellites.

The denominator trap

The percentage is calculated by setting the value of eligible purchases against a denominator — and a common mistake is to define it badly:

• The correct denominator is the total value of purchases of food products intended for preparing meals, excluding drinks and excluding service provision.
• The common mistake is to include out-of-scope items (service provision, cleaning products) in the denominator, which artificially dilutes the real percentage and makes progress look weaker than it is — or the reverse, depending on the mistake made.

How to calculate your share of eligible products

1. List all food purchases over the reference period, by supplier and by product line.
2. Identify, for each line, whether the product meets an EGalim criterion (organic, official label, value-adding term, short supply chain under conditions).
3. Add up the value of the eligible lines and set it against the total food purchases for the period.
4. Isolate the organic share separately to check the 20% sub-threshold.

What happens if the thresholds are not reached

The law provides no direct financial penalty for an organisation that does not reach the EGalim thresholds — the obligation remains one of means rather than of result in the strict sense, with the stakes being mainly public transparency and administrative monitoring. A local authority that does not reach its thresholds is nonetheless required to declare its real situation, rather than overstate its performance in “ma cantine” — an inaccurate declaration carries a risk distinct from simply missing the threshold.

How to make concrete progress

• Prioritise high-volume items — a gain on dairy products or starchy foods, bought in large quantities, has more effect on the overall percentage than a gain on a marginal item.
• Group purchases into coherent lots in public contracts, so that smaller but better EGalim-qualified suppliers can bid on an accessible scope.
• Check annually the real eligibility of each listed supplier — a certification can expire without the local authority being automatically informed.

Common mistakes

• Getting the denominator wrong, skewing the declared percentage one way or the other.
• Tracking only the 50 / 20 and forgetting the 60% that applies to meat and fish — an establishment can be compliant on the overall threshold and miss this one.
• Continuing to count level 2 environmental certification after 31 December 2026, even though it drops out of the count on 1 January 2027.
• Believing the obligation targets only the public sector — it covers all collective restaurants, private ones included, since 1 January 2024.
• Declaring an estimate rather than a real calculation for want of having structured purchase tracking by eligibility criterion.
• Not rechecking the certifications of suppliers already listed from one year to the next.

Checklist

1. Check the exact scope of the denominator before any calculation: food purchases in value excluding VAT, excluding drinks and services.
2. Measure all four thresholds, not only the two best known — 50%, 20% organic, 60% meat and fish, 100% for the State.
3. Quantify your share of level 2 certified products before the end of 2026 and plan their replacement — it falls to zero in the count on 1 January 2027.
4. Structure purchase tracking by product line and eligibility criterion, not by overall estimate.
5. Prepare the declaration ahead of the January-to-March window, and note the April correction window.
6. Declare your real situation on “ma cantine”, even below the thresholds.
7. Prioritise progress actions on the purchase items heaviest in volume.

Sources

• Comprendre mes obligations : qualité et durabilité des produits (Understanding my obligations: product quality and sustainability), “ma cantine” documentation (the French State’s platform) — thresholds, calculation basis, status of level 2 certification.
• Télédéclaration « ma cantine » en 2026 (“ma cantine” online declaration in 2026), French Ministry of Agriculture — campaign windows, simplified mode, grouped declaration.

Thresholds and dates checked on 17 August 2026.