The standoff is not over. This Wednesday, the Council of State examined the request for interim relief from several manufacturers of vegetable steaks or bacon, who are contesting the decree prohibiting them from these names reserved for products of animal origin. Companies 77 Foods (La Vie), Nutrition
The judge for summary proceedings will issue his order “in the early days of next week”, he indicated at the end of the hearing, which included representatives of several companies on one side, and of the ministry of Agriculture and the Repression of fraud on the other. La Vie, which supplies Burger King and Pizza Hut, fears for its “survival”. HappyVore risks “going out of business”: the applicants, especially small businesses, explained that complying with the legislation would be costly.
For Cédric Meston, co-founder of HappyVore, this would represent 10 to 15% of turnover, estimated between 20 and 25 million euros for 2024. The legal director of La Vie Mari Nozac’h mentioned 12 to 13% of the figure. in business, or one million euros. The applicants also insisted on the problem of naming their products. “There is nothing more explicit than “vegetable bacon”,” said Nicolas Schweitzer, founder of La Vie.
Jean-Jérôme Jung, from the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), responded that the terms vegetable “matches” (for bacon) or vegetable “chopped” were explicit. The companies also pointed out that their competitors who did not manufacture their products in France were evading regulations.
They also mentioned that the deadline was too short, as it would take them several months to design and print new packaging. During this time, “we will be completely unable to fill the shelves,” according to Mari Nozac’h. For Guillaume Dubois, the other founder of HappyVore, “the government is putting French producers and farmers at a disadvantage”.
According to Marina Levis-Etournaud, legal director of Nutrition
