The year is off to a rocky start. Just as the New Year celebrations wrapped up, the festivities come to a halt because the relaxation of the rules regarding restaurant ticket usage that began in October 2022, due to inflation, will come to an end in the early light of 2025 (because, yes, apparently, price increases will stop at the same time as 2024). The reason? Despite the wishes of various ministers, a recent government censorship has made it impossible to vote on the extension of this rule in time.
The End of the Good Times
We almost dodged a bullet and continued to enjoy life. A few months ago, the government announced its intention to extend the rule that allows the use of restaurant cards and vouchers to pay for everyday groceries. However, here we are, the .Above all, some of our elected officials had the bright idea to censor the Barnier government before the agreement passed (which was supposed to happen by the end of November).
C’est l’une des conséquences de la chute du gouvernement Barnier : utiliser ses titres-restaurant au supermarché pour acheter de l’huile, de la viande, du riz, du beurre, des pâtes sèches, ou encore de la farine pourrait devenir impossible en 2025. 🏪https://t.co/DXlp49v3Ld pic.twitter.com/2GkmvZyCAn
— DemarchesAdministratives.fr (@DemarchesAdm) December 10, 2024
According to Bercy – aka the Ministry of Economy and Finance – it’s currently impossible to pass this vote on time to ensure a delay at least until the year 2025. And while it’s not literally the end of the world (as you can still keep buying canned goods), it is figuratively speaking, since there will be a whole range of products that won’t be accessible anymore.
Goodbye to homemade meals
The new rule is simple: it will now be forbidden to use your Swile, Edenred, or other Sodexo cards to purchase foods that require processing. This includes pasta, rice, meat, fish, eggs… basically anything that cannot be eaten as is.
Immediate rave. A direct consequence of censorship, which risks impacting a few million consumers.❌Vous défendez le pouvoir d’achat, dites-vous ? #LFI #RN
— Daniel Labaronne (@LabaronneDaniel) December 10, 2024
Faute de dialogue 6 M de Français perdront l’usage des titres-restaurant pour leurs courses dès 2025.
Il est temps de dépasser les blocages, de trouver des compromis avec ceux qui ne se soucient QUE de l’intérêt général. https://t.co/3uL8AYLT53
A measure that might confuse fans of bento and lunch boxes, as it will be impossible to pay for everyday groceries. Only ready-made meals, or at least items that can be consumed as they are, will be available (phew, we can still enjoy delicious meals from Picard). But unfortunately, it's impossible to make savings by preparing meals in advance, using known-origin ingredients…
Time to check out
Well, luckily, many products will still be eligible, like fruits and vegetables, ensuring we can still enjoy some fresh foods during work hours. We can continue to dine as usual in restaurants and bakeries that accept them. And the 25€ limit shouldn’t change for the time being.
drop back down to 19€. That’s it!```htmlSee this post on Instagram
But then how does it work when it’s time to pay? Just thinking about calculating on your phone, splitting your cart in two, and “do those yogurts work or not?” is already a bit of a headache! No worries, as the sorting will usually happen. ```directly at the checkout, depending on the stores' discretion, which can continue to choose which products can be paid for with TR (that's restaurant vouchers for those in the know).
In any case, this decision is, hopefully, only temporary, since as soon as a new government is elected, they will be able to pass the text urgently, to bring back the use of restaurant cards as quickly as possible. Come on, with a bit of luck, we're looking at just 6 or 7 months of struggle…
