16 September 2025

Meal card for companies: what it is and how it differs

Mediterranean food, including hummus, kebabs, salads and bread, laid out on a grey table.

La Food card It is a payment card with which a company finances its employees« meals during working hours. »Meal card" is a generic name: at Edenred it corresponds to Ticket Restaurant, exempt from income tax up to €11 per working day. It is important not to confuse it with power card, which is a different product; below we explain the differences. 

Table of contents

What is a food card?

A food card is a payment card intended for To finance food expenses linked to work activities. This allows the company to offer its staff a convenient and controlled way to pay for their daily meals, without cash advances or receipts to collect.

is what Edenred offers under the name of Ticket Restaurant, 100 digital % codes, each linked to a specific employee. If you would like details of What is it and how does the product work, we developed it in the Ticket Restaurant Guide and in How does the restaurant card work.

Meal card, restaurant card, and food card: what's the difference?

It's a very common confusion, because the names are similar but don't mean the same thing:

  • Food card and restaurant card son, in practice, The same: two names for the benefit intended for the food in catering (restaurants, bars, cafes, and home delivery). It is exempt from income tax up to €11 per working day and that's the case with Ticket Restaurant.
  • Power card is a different product, oriented to the Food purchase (for example in supermarkets), with different tax treatment. Edenred does not offer a meal cardYour solution for food assistance is Ticket Restaurant, focused on catering.

 

In other words: if what you're looking for is to finance the working lunches from your team, the product is the meal voucher / restaurant voucher (Ticket Restaurant); the food card meets another need.

The company meal card

For a company, the lunch card is simple to implement and manage:

  • Customisabledefines the daily amount, number of cards and usage parameters according to your template.
  • No minimum spend no maintenance or cancellation fees.
  • Centralised managementremote recharges, real-time spending control and a single bill.

 

You have all the Advantages of a business card and his Taxation in Personal Income Tax developed in their articles. And if you want to see Where can it be used?, you have it in Where to use Ticket Restaurant.

How to offer the meal voucher in your company

Implementing it is quick and it adapts to the characteristics of each company: you define the parameters that best suit your team and Edenred will assist you with the setup. You just have to Get in touch with the Edenred team To begin.

Would you like to see how I would fit into your company? Request a demo

We are a multi-solution platform offering services such as Edenred Mobility, Childcare, Health Insurance, and more, always adapting to society's needs to improve quality of life and enhance the joy of living.

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