Contract catering and other food service activities
Filed accounts
NACE 56220 · financial year 2025 · 394 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | 24.0% | 28.8% | 26.2% | 26.7% | 28.9% | 30.3% |
| Median net result | €3,093 | €6,498 | €6,192 | €7,853 | €9,278 | €8,084 |
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Bankruptcies
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 01-10-2026 | Albaresto
BE 0681.922.371 |
| 21-09-2026 | MEGA ÖL
BE 0809.125.795 |
| 19-08-2026 | Let us grow
BE 1033.294.280 |
| 18-08-2026 | PIZZAPASTATALIA
BE 0800.846.054 |
| 12-08-2026 | Lapierre, Dominique
BE 0508.522.696 · sole trader · Ohey |
| 01-07-2026 | SHAMMIK
BE 0830.190.237 |
| 22-06-2026 | HD Food Consulting
BE 0781.982.326 |
| 04-05-2026 | AKIEL
BE 0736.665.510 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 981 of 1,323 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
The balance sheets of division 56 on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE 56220 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts- 1 Sodexo Belgium SABrussels 2,600 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 Compass Group BelgiumMachelen (Brab.) 1,457 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 ISS CATERINGBrussels 746 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 ARAMARKBraine-l'Alleud 441 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 Gate Gourmet BelgiumZaventem 433 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 174 companies- 302 Hotels and catering 159
- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 6
- 201 Independent retail 4
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 3
- 119 Food trade 3
- 220 White-collar workers in the food industry 3
- 329.01 Socio-cultural sector 3
- 118 Food industry 2
Show the 12 others
- 121 Cleaning 2
- 110 Textile care 1
- 126 Furnishing and woodworking 1
- 144 Agriculture 1
- 145 Horticulture 1
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 1
- 311 Large retail businesses 1
- 327.01 Sheltered and social workshops 1
- 329 Socio-cultural sector 1
- 330 Health institutions and services 1
- 332 French- and German-speaking welfare and health sector 1
- 333 Tourist attractions 1
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Division 56: Food and beverage service
Related activities
1 other activity| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event catering56210 | 7,375 | 664 | 62 | 6,992 |
Bankruptcies per year in division 56
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 1,809 | 1,908 | 2,092 | 1,952 | 1,996 | 1,338 | 1,007 | 1,581 | 1,958 | 1,914 | 1,957 | 1,408 |
| Jobs lost | 3,728 | 4,566 | 4,072 | 4,374 | 4,104 | 2,930 | 2,346 | 3,083 | 4,307 | 4,108 | 5,415 | 3,422 |
2026 through September. Every bankruptcy, also of companies that have since left the register. Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics), NACE classification of 2008.
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 56
3,222 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €43,100 | €34,500 to €51,100 | 1,734 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €43,800 | €35,700 to €50,700 | 1,417 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €47,200 | €38,100 to €52,600 | 59 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Running bankruptcies in the sector
NACE division 56Measured nationally: Of 108,562 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 28% after liquidation, 3% were withdrawn. After five years, 20% were still open. Half had ended after 26 months (a quarter after 15, three quarters after 51 months).
This counts companies with this main activity in the register on 6 November 2026. The outcome itself is not measured by sector. The activity of a company that leaves the register after its bankruptcy is too often not kept to compare closed cases fairly.
15 of the 39,001 companies in NACE division 56 have a parent company abroad. Main parent countries: France (3), United Kingdom (3) and Netherlands (3). Together they employ 3,089 of the division's 59,292 FTE: 5.2%, against 14% for Belgium as a whole.
Subsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €377.2m awarded
- Federal transfers 1.0m amount as published
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €32.0m paid
- EU budget €5.4m attributed share
- EU research €786,528 EU contribution
Insights on Contract catering and other food service activities
Balance sheet and result. 23.1% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. The median net result of €8,084 is below Belgium's €16,520. Solvency of 30.3% is below Belgium's 46.1%.
Bankruptcies. In 12 months, 15.1 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is more than in 94% of the 88 NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.3% is above Belgium's 0.2%.
Inflow and structure. Half of the companies are younger than 15.9 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. 25.9% of the companies are sole traders, against 41.6% in Belgium. Flanders holds 77.5% of the seats, against 64.7% in Belgium.
Staff and filing. 44.3% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.4% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 5,677 of the 7,647 FTE: 74.2%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 24.0% in financial year 2020 to 30.3% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €3,093 in financial year 2020 to €8,084 in financial year 2025.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 06-11-2026 05:30.
Method and sources
Every company registered today counts under its main activities in the KBO. Establishment units do not count. Staff counts once, under the employer's first main activity, from its latest accounts and only where it fits the staff costs. The count follows the NACE 2025 classification, the version in which code 56220 exists.
The bankruptcies over five years count only companies still registered today, because the activity of a company that left the register is not kept. So they are fewer than the bankruptcies of those years, and the figure is not a probability for the future. Over twelve months the count is nearly complete, because a bankrupt company stays registered while its bankruptcy runs. A company with more than one main activity counts in each of those sectors.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other NACE divisions rests on an overview of every division, counted again each night. Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists. A standing such as "more than in 80%" compares with the other divisions that have the figure. A division's bankruptcy probability is the median over its companies with a score. Belgium here counts the 1,276,581 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 698,987 registrations publish no activity.
Each median is the value of the middle company, computed over the annual accounts of financial year 2025, and is shown only from 30 accounts. A share (loss-making, negative equity) counts that year's accounts with that trait. Accounts are late when they are filed after the statutory deadline. The direction per financial year follows the companies still registered today. Missing or 90 days late counts the companies with accounts missing today, or whose latest were filed more than 90 days after the deadline. The dossier follows the same rule.