Lowering the steaks? Exploration of professional representations of French chefs on meat and meat-free cooking, in relation to their offer

The restaurant sector, heavily affected by the covid-19 pandemic, must reinvent itself by getting closer to societal expectations, especially regarding environmental issues. Sustainable cuisine refers to the food practices of chefs which reduce the environmental impact of restaurant operations. One of the measures recommended to significantly reduce the impact of food systems is to reduce meat consumption. Thus, chefs today are invited to rethink their meat-based cuisine, while at the same time, meat is a product strongly rooted in the French culinary tradition. The objective of this exploratory research is to study the professional representations of chefs regarding meat and meatless cooking. 29 semi-structured face-to-face interviews with chefs from the commercial sector were conducted and a thematic analysis was performed on the corpus with the help of MAXQDA 2022 software. The results indicate that chefs maintain an attraction to meat-based cuisine while being aware of the environmental impacts of meat production. Plant-based cuisine enjoys a special aura for chefs, associated with new culinary practices and a vector of creativity. Barriers to its development persist, such as the perception of a clientele reluctant to discover new dishes, a work organization that needs to be rethought as the preparation of plant-based dishes can be more time-consuming, and price adjustments with respect to the dishes. This research has managerial implications for chefs, by providing avenues for the expansion of vegetarian cuisine, such as the generalization of a vegetarian menu, or training to develop chefs' skills in vegetarian cuisine.