Gastronomy: Price adjustments in ETH restaurants

Meat, vegetarian or vegan: for those wishing to eat at ETH Zurich, there is a wide range of options at a total of 19 catering establishments. For 13 years, the prices for the basic menus have remained unchanged. Now they are being raised for the first time since 2008 with the start of the semester on 20 September. This is due in particular to higher food and transport prices, which have risen sharply since 2020 on account of bad harvests due to inclement weather (droughts, floods, etc.) and the worldwide effects of the pandemic.

Other universities – including recently the University of Zurich – have already had to increase the prices of their menu offerings, and now the Executive Board has decided to adjust the prices at ETH as well. “We’re obviously aware that price increases generally aren’t the kind of news that people greet with enthusiasm,” admits Robert Perich, Chairman of the ETH Zurich Catering Commission. “That’s why it was important to us to ensure that the menu prices remain moderate, especially for students, and that the restaurant operators’ offerings continue to be as diverse and as high-quality as they have been.”

As of 20 September 2021, the Mensa Polyterrasse, the food market and the FUSION meal will adjust the prices for the basic menus as follows:

Price increases especially for meat options

In addition to the increased cost of goods, this price adjustment also takes environmental considerations into account. To date, there has been no price difference in the basic menus between meat options and vegetarian or vegan dishes. This is now changing, with prices being raised especially for meat dishes to reflect the commitment of ETH Zurich and the two restaurant operators, the SV Group and the Compass Group, to sustainable gastronomy. That commitment is part of ETH Zurich’s Climate Programme, launched in 2018, which aims to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the campus catering facilities.

A step towards sustainable gastronomy

Meat production is considered one of the main contributors to global CO₂ emissions, as producing meat requires a lot more energy and resources than producing plant-based foods. That means there’s also a major role for the catering industry to play in significantly and sustainably reducing CO₂ emissions. After all, our food choices have a substantial impact on environmental pollution, too.

Decision met with understanding

The decision to raise menu prices is widely supported within ETH. Professional representatives of VSETH, AVETH, the Staff Commission (PeKo) and the Lecturers’ Conference (KdL) were involved in the process. “We’re very pleased that there’s such a level of understanding across all four categories about the need for the price increase,” Perich says. “We hope that the rest of the ETH community can also see why we took this step. The new pricing structure offers us all the opportunity to do our bit as restaurant guests to increase sustainability at ETH.”

Price adjustments in other restaurants as well

In addition to the Mensa Polyterrasse, the food market and the FUSION meal, it is expected that other restaurants on the ETH campus such as the Polysnack, the Dozentenfoyer, the FUSION coffee or RiceUp! will also selectively adjust their prices – either at the start of the semester or from whenever they reopen. However, since these restaurants set their prices independently of ETH, the respective restaurant operators will inform their guests of any price adjustments at the appropriate time.