Sustainability and nutrition
Sustainability has been an important topic for the Studentenwerk SH for many years. The university catering team prefers to buy fresh food in the region and uses regional, organic or fair trade products in its dining halls and cafeterias wherever possible. Through the monthly Green Day, the Studentenwerk Schleswig-Holstein also contributes to climate protection. In 2017, the Studentenwerk was awarded the Kiel Sustainability Prize for its sustainable approach to food. The company also received the same prize for avoiding disposable cups.
Vegetarian and vegan meals are playing an increasingly important role in the Studentenwerk's dining halls and cafeterias. In recent years, demand has increased by almost eleven percent, with a shift from vegetarian to vegan. The range is therefore constantly being expanded with new, delicious dishes.
For those with allergies, our university catering team is constantly searching for low-allergen or allergen-free ingredients. For your information, the 14 most common allergens are labeled in our dining halls.
Important topics
Reusable tableware is a priority for us. We offer a deposit-free reusable-to-go system at all locations, which you can use conveniently via an app. With our pricing policy, we offer you an incentive to prefer reusable dishes. The rental fee for a reusable cup is 15 cents, for a bowl 25 cents. This makes the reusable system significantly cheaper than single-use packaging made from renewable raw materials.
How does the Relevo dish system work?
- Download the app and choose your Relevo Dish offer.
- Scan the QR code on the dish, show the confirmation at the checkout and pay the service fee.
- Enjoy!
- Return your Relevo dish within 14 days and scan the QR code at the dish return desk.
You can download the Relevo app from various app stores. You can find answers to your first questions in the Relevo FAQ.
You also have the option to bring your own clean dishes. We will be happy to fill them. You get a 10 cent discount for hot drinks in your own reusable cup. We also avoid waste in other areas of our refectories, cafeterias and café lounges by:
- giving our guests the opportunity to save delicious, over-produced food from being thrown away. To do this, we offer them our Zero Waste plate at some of our locations, 15 minutes after the regular meal is served.
- Prepare food predominantly "just in time" and replenish as needed
- Allow a flexible combination of side dishes with the main course and prepare the dishes according to tried and tested recipes, so that there are rarely leftovers on the plates.
- advertise perfectly good dishes that are left over despite careful planning and preparation as a "limited offer" on another opening day
- Feed unavoidable leftovers to a biogas plant to generate electricity.
- Give unavoidable leftovers to food sharing organisations, which use them themselves or pass them on to charitable institutions.
The organic assortment in our refectories and cafeterias is becoming increasingly diverse. We offer only organic coffee and cocoa, as well as a variety of organic teas. In 2019, we purchased 6,240 kilos of coffee and 38,080 bags of tea. We purchase many dairy products as well as some poultry products from organic farms in northern Germany, with 99.9 percent of dairy products being organic. Ingredients such as tofu, bulgur, quinoa and whole-grain pasta are processed exclusively in organic quality and labeled in our food offerings. You can find out more about organic on the information portal on organic farming.
In addition to coffee and drinking chocolate, the university cafeteria offers the complete range of teas as well as some soft drinks fairly traded and in organic quality. This enables workers to secure their livelihood and improves the quality of life through health protection. In 2019, we purchased 25,200 bottles of organic fair trade lemonade and sold a total of 529,678 hot drinks made from fair trade coffee, cocoa and tea.
The Studentenwerk SH also supports the Fairtrade Town campaign in the cities of Kiel, Lübeck and Heide as well as the Fairtrade University FH-Westküste as a cooperation partner. Further info at: www.fairtrade-deutschland.de
Farms from which we obtain our meat from species-appropriate husbandry take great care to ensure animal welfare. For example, the animals are housed in stables with daylight and more space than required by law. Only GMO-free feed is used and no prophylactic antibiotics are administered. This way of keeping the animals has a significant effect on the quality of the meat.
We buy the meat from different suppliers in northern Germany, depending on the type of animal. You can read more about the requirements for keeping the animals here:
Markerup geese and ducks
Lübchiner straw pig
Severin organic eggs and brother cock.
In 2019, we processed a total of 19 tons of species-appropriate meat and sold 50,000 curry sausages made from species-appropriate meat. We source our chicken meat items exclusively from Bruderhahn farming.
On the 1st Thursday of every month, we prepare mainly vegetarian dishes in our cafeterias. In individual dining halls, we offer selected meat dishes and deliberately avoid red meat, so that comparatively small amounts of greenhouse gases are produced. With Green Day, we want to make a contribution to climate protection and raise awareness for sustainable nutrition.
Green Day and the ongoing expansion of vegetarian and vegan food offerings have contributed to a significant increase in the meat-free share. Good Food - Cool Climate!
We buy our fresh food as regionally as possible. These ingredients are produced and processed in the northern German region.
We obtain the milk used in the refectories and cafeterias of the Studentenwerk SH and such products as quark, cream and natural yogurt from the organic farm dairy Dehlwes. What is special about this family-run business is that it only uses organic milk from its own cows and from the neighborhood within an average radius of 10 kilometers from the dairy. In this way, the farm guarantees short delivery routes and lower CO2 emissions.
We source shell and fresh egg products exclusively from regional farms. In 2019, we processed around 45,500 regional eggs.
We are constantly expanding our vegan and vegetarian offerings. Every day, there is at least one vegan dish in the dining halls. In addition, side dishes that are not suitable can be changed at no extra charge or sauces can be omitted in order to create a vegan dish from the available selection. Salad bars in some dining halls also offer a wide vegan selection. In cafeterias and café lounges, vegan cakes, desserts, salads, baked goods, bars, and plant-based milks are available for selection, and vegan hot food options are usually available as well. Offerings vary by facility size. In 2019, we purchased 8,376 liters of plant-based drinks and sold 20,000 scoops of vegan ice cream.
At least 50 percent of our cafeteria meals are vegetarian or vegan (WS: 21/22: 53.8%*). Through various promotions, such as the monthly Greenday (first Thursday of the month) or World Vegan Day, University Catering promotes vegan options. Our commitment to an attractive vegan offering has been recognized by the animal rights organization PETA. The Kiel Mensa II and the Mensa Kesselhaus are thus among the most vegan-friendly refectories in Germany.
*under pandemic conditions