Cabbage from Otaslavice; salads from a Brno farm; oyster mushrooms from Kojátky; potatoes from Vysočina farmers and meat from local producers. MU canteens routinely cook their meals from local produce.
MU’s Accommodation and Catering Services (ACS) has long focused on sustainability and the use of local products. It aims to offer top-quality catering with regard to seasonality and support of local farmers and suppliers.
Daily competition
Every day ACS runs a “competition”-based selection procedure for the delivery of raw materials and ingredients for the preparation of meals among local suppliers. By 10 a.m., milk and dairy products, meat and other foodstuffs are ordered. “The delivery of foodstuffs is planned via the electronic purchasing portal FirstBuySale (FBS). Any new supplier can sign up and offer their products. Every day after noon we select the offer based on the best price,” says Head of Canteen Management Tomáš Kala.
Even special seasonal events organised by ACS, known in Czech as Jahodové snění, Dýňobraní, Podzimní týdny s divočinou or Chřestová sezona require that the produce used has Czech origin. “To participate in the purchasing system, local farmers must meet certain key conditions. They must be able to deliver the products order on the next day between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., they cannot charge for transport and they must hold certificates of suitability of their produce for public catering purposes,” Kala explains.
Sustainable purchasing
University canteens purchase ingredients within the f-regiony® system from the Anete company supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. MU actively joined the project in May 2015 as the first university in the country. Within the project, support is provided with respect to the delivery of local produce to public catering providers. Up to 90 percent of purchases made by MU canteens have Czech suppliers. “The purpose of the project was to open the public catering market to regional farmers and foodstuff producers. While this part was a success, challenges remain with respect to the logistics – how to get enough quantities of produce to university canteens. Many smaller farmers are unable to transport their produce to us on a daily basis,” says ACS’s Veronika Hrozková.
Ultimately large distributors have joined the project, e.g. Bidfood Czech Republic s.r.o., JIP východočeská, a.s., ČEROZFRUCHT s.r.o. or BOVYS, s.r.o., who started purchasing and distributing foodstuffs from regional manufacturers. Long terms suppliers of ACS include Jatka Ivančice s.r.o., Makovec a.s. (meat), Kroutil s.r.o. (eggs and oils), Mlékárna Olešnice a.s. (milk and dairy products), DUNAJ-Ostrava CZ s.r.o. (potatoes) or Exrudo Bečice s.r.o. (cornmeal). Due to the complexity of operations MU uses major suppliers who participate in the sustainability project, such as MAKRO.
The purchase of certain products requires a dedicated “supplier selection process”. Potatoes are a typical example, being the most commonly used vegetable. “On average, canteens need 1.8 tonnes of potatoes every month. They are used not just as a side dish but also as ingredients in soups, casseroles or goulash,” Kala explains.
Dear guests,
spring belongs to asparagus – and in our canteens you certainly won’t miss it. Come and taste seasonal specialties prepared for you by the head chef of the MU canteens, Petr Klimeš. 📱 You can easily pre-order the dishes via the WebKredit or MobilKredit applications.
Our canteens are expanding their menus with new vegan recipes created by students from various faculties, as well as dishes made from African catfish supplied by a regional producer. These additions reflect current food trends and the interests of the academic community.