It's obvious everywhere: Whether it's the supermarket, a visit to the public swimming pool, or the electricity bill - prices continue to rise. For students in particular, this is difficult to compensate for financially. The canteens and cafeterias are currently challenged by the need to continue to provide affordable, high-quality food on campus. We receive many inquiries on this topic and want to give you an overview of our work.
Development of canteen prices
The last time canteen prices were raised was in September 2022. This was necessary because the purchase prices of the goods have risen immensely. In addition, all contracts were terminated by the suppliers. Whereas previously contracts with fixed prices ran for several years and thus allowed a great deal of financial planning, these can now only be concluded with the contractual partners on a monthly basis - in some cases only on a weekly basis. In our current situation, dishes are being reclassified to the various price categories in order to compensate for the further increase in purchase prices since the last canteen price increase. While egg meals, for example, were previously sold primarily as low-priced Meal 1, these meals have for some time now been found in Line 2 (reason: eggs have become up to 70% more expensive). This allows us to compensate for the currently high costs. At the same time, it is planned to offer meals again in a lower-priced meal category when there is a drop in purchase prices again. Some favorite meals could currently no longer be prepared at all (e.g. burgers). In order to avoid having to remove these from the menu altogether, we have temporarily introduced special offer meals.
The lunches at student prices are largely financed by state funds and semester fees. Since these funds have not been adjusted, rising costs must be covered primarily from sales prices.
New offer for children's meals
As of January 2023, there is a offer of a discounted children's lunch. This means that children (under the age of 13) of their parents who are students or employed at the university can eat in the canteen at the student price. We are responding to a long-held request. Since our legal mandate is to serve students and we are not allowed to subsidize children's meals, we have been looking for a solution that deals fairly with small guests. So now the portion sizes are adjusted and the student price is paid. There is no subsidy as a result.
Price categories
In 2018 the price category for employees was eliminated. Since then, there is only the distinction between students and guests. This procedure was prescribed by the State of Brandenburg after the Landesrechnungshof criticized the previous price structure. Even if the understandable wish for a return to an employee price is repeatedly expressed: Unfortunately, the Studentenwerk cannot return to the old price structure.
Opening hours
We have always tried to make an offer that meets the desire for extended opening hours. We are aware that the campus is a place to study and stay from early morning until late in the evening. Currently, the majority of the canteens are open between 8 am and 3 pm. In the past, very different opening hours models were practiced, which we subsequently evaluated. The result: opening hours will currently not reach pre-pandemic levels. One of the reasons for this is that the number of meals served in the evenings and on Saturdays is too low to justify the costs from a solidarity-financed semester fee. In the wake of the ongoing crises and accompanying cost increases in all areas, we can justify this offer even less. Students in the Stahnsdorfer Strasse and Kaiser-Friedrich-Strasse residence halls have the option of having a canteen meal delivered to a vending machine via an ordering system, which means they can also get a hot meal in the evening or at the weekend. For the future, such an vending machine concept on campus is being examined.
Also relevant: The lack of skilled workers additionally requires us to find new ways and to focus on the times of high turnover. In general, it can be observed that many skilled workers have left the gastronomy industry. Even when we advertise jobs, we hardly receive any applications. As a result, we concentrate on our main business and offer lunches. At locations where the cafeteria and canteen are in the same building, we concentrate the available resources and only open the canteen for the time being. There, we offer an additional breakfast and snack menu.
Prospects
The multiple crises pose great challenges for the Studentenwerk. Our mission and our commitment remain unchanged: We support students with social services. We never raise prices carelessly. We do not operate for profit. All funds, semester fees and profits go back to the students and into our offerings.
You are welcome to send us feedback to: verpflegung[at]stwwb.de.de.