A lunch tray is a recipe. It is also a box set down on a meeting table, opened in front of guests, then thrown away twenty minutes later. Nobody really orders that box, but everyone sees it. It says something about you before lunch has even started.

We have made a choice that costs more: most of our containers are made of French poplar wood. Here is why, and what it concretely changes for you.

Poplar wood, a choice of material before it is a selling point

Poplar grows fast, in France, often in poplar plantations grown for this purpose. It can be worked into thin sheets, which gives light, rigid trays, with no varnish or surface treatment. The wood we use is untreated and comes from sustainably managed forests, PEFC-certified.

In practice, at serving time, this gives three things:

  • No added taste. A heated plastic container or a varnished tray marks delicate food. Raw wood does not.
  • Real strength. Poplar absorbs moisture without warping: a salad or a dish in sauce arrives intact after delivery.
  • A presentation that holds up. Light wood shows off the colours on a plate. It is the least technical reason, and probably the one that matters most when you are hosting.

Where our boxes come from

We do not make our packaging: we buy it. We might as well say from whom. Our main supplier is Comatec, a company based in Carcassonne, in the Aude, specialising since 1994 in food packaging for the food trades.

What convinced us comes down to a few verifiable facts:

  • French manufacturing for most of their manufactured range, and wood products certified FSC® and PEFC.
  • Work with four ESATs (sheltered workshops) in the Aude since 1994, employing more than 80 people with disabilities on packing and assembly.
  • A public non-financial rating: Comatec is assessed by EcoVadis, an independent organisation, and is among the best-rated companies in its sector.
  • Environmental labelling product by product through their PlanetScore tool, which rates each item from A to E according to its manufacture, transport and end of life.

None of these commitments are ours: they are our supplier's. But choosing a supplier is already an act of responsible purchasing, and it is the part of the chain we have control over.

What it changes for your company

A purchasing item you can document

If you run a CSR approach, catering is one of the few items your teams see every week. A container made of certified wood, manufactured in France, by a company assessed by an independent organisation: that is a line you can justify in a report, with supporting documents. We send you the references and certifications on request.

Simpler sorting after the meal

Untreated wood goes in with food waste where that collection exists, or with non-recyclable waste elsewhere. No film to separate, no tray to rinse. For an office manager who looks after the room after lunch, that is one problem fewer.

A table that does not look like a lunch tray

It is the least measurable argument and the most decisive. When you host a client or a management committee, the difference between a plastic tray and a wooden container shows from three metres away.

What we do not do

Wood does not suit everything. A hot soup, a juice, a liquid sauce need other containers. We then use cardboard, sugarcane pulp or returnable glass depending on the case, and we collect what is reusable after your event, thermoses included.

Nor do we display any "zero waste" or "carbon neutral" claim. Delivering lunches across Paris produces waste and emissions. What we can say is where our containers come from, who makes them and under what conditions. Anything more would be marketing talk.

See our containers before ordering

If packaging matters in your choice of caterer, tell us: we show you the containers planned for your service before confirming the order, and we send the corresponding certifications to your purchasing department.

To put your service together, request a quote or browse our lunch trays and our lunch boxes. The details of how we work are on the our commitments page.