Although the menu is extensive, each athlete finds the restaurant for the food closest to their gastronomic culture. Participants have submitted complaints about the quality of the food. It has already developed.
Hoyos Hernandez free
President of ACORD Colombia
“La Nave,” as the restaurant is known in the Olympic Village, where the 10,500 athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are resting, continues to receive criticism hard and rotten Although food is plentiful, representatives from different countries warn that it is not prepared with the quality that an event of this type needs to hold. We investigated and learned that the Sodexo Live company from the famous Sodexo (one of the world’s largest multinational service providers based in Paris) is responsible for the food which is served there.
La Nave started working on July 18 and to meet the requirements, it added just over 3,500 seats at tables. Every day he has to prepare 40 thousand meals, because the athletes join him: coaches, officials, medical staff and media who will be with him. For the Head of the Colombian Mission, Helmut Bellingrodt, our country’s first Olympic medalist in Munich 1972, the food is not so good. “From the start of the Games to today, it has improved in terms of quantity but not in terms of quality. Not that it is bad, I clarify, but it is not suitable for the Olympic Games,” he said. The director compared the food served in Tokyo in the middle of the pandemic and he said “it was much better. There is no change here, it is always the same,” he warned.
The Olympic restaurant serves 24 hours a day and responds to 550 recipes, understanding that athletes from the five continents come and that the food in each place is different. However, those who live in the “Ville Olympique” – in French – do not agree with Sodexo, even more, they complain and complain about the bad taste of the food prepared the that.
The press entered the kitchen
Various media centers and portals, including El Financiero, TN and AFP itself, put their finger on the matter, revealing very intimate details of how the largest dining room in the t – working world. Most of the recipes were created after consultation with nutritionists and high performance athletes. The lack of eggs and chicken started as part of the controversy at first. As the days passed, the numbers increased and, for example, eggs are now available: fried, boiled, scrambled, in an omelette and in many other presentations. Undoubtedly, demand is greater as the Olympic Games progress. Athletes must eat while maintaining a calorie level that Sodexo has tried to cure at any cost.
Every day, an average of 40 different dishes can be found, which are distributed according to the Nave in specific gastronomic regions that focus on France and Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, Asia and the international menu . When you go through the mentioned buffets, you can find everything from fish and shrimp, to the most popular ones like pork, beef or chicken. The bars have lots of vegetables and salads. Herbs of all kinds are available for anyone who wants them. Cheese, rice and desserts are never in short supply. Pasta is a daily and perennial food. French bread and others are available in each large dining room. Sauces, spicy foods and condiments are available in every dining room. There is also lamb, shrimp and wholesale fruit. As for the latter, Sodexo has a large cabinet where bananas and peaches are always in abundance.
Sustainability and self-service
When you go around some of the rooms you will find pizza, rice in milk; as well as roast meat in the best style of well-prepared hamburgers. France provides slightly more than 80% of the ingredients with which food is prepared. Carrefour is one of the main suppliers. During the Olympic Games that began on July 26 and will close on August 12, it is estimated that more than 3 million bananas and at least 25 tons of coffee will be consumed.
The dining rooms are committed to sustainability. The tables are made of wood. When eating, each athlete or participant must help put away the utensils, as well as the trash. This will make the selection process easier. The group has arranged several pieces of furniture where glasses, plates, wood, napkins and uneaten food will be moved. The trays are also deposited elsewhere. In total, it is estimated that there are about 50 thousand white porcelain plates, which circulate through La Nave, as well as the same number of forks, spoons and knives.
To tell the truth, the Games are moving the world economy. The sports industry generates huge dividends for the food sector. In a future installment I will tell you other details that go behind the scenes in the midst of the Olympics.
