FAQ Canteens

People without a university connection cannot use the canteens. The background to this is that the Studierendenwerke in Lower Saxony have a statutory, university-related service mandate.

Holders of the following cards can visit our canteens:

• CampusCard - for students
• CampusCard - service card
• CampusCard - for guest students
• CampusCard - access card (card cannot be used as a means of payment!)
• Students from other universities and colleges with the appropriate ID
• Pupils with pupil ID card
• MensaCard holders

Legitimisation at the canteen cash desks with the cards or IDs mentioned is required. Please have your card ready at the cash desk.

Why are you switching from RECUP to another reusable cup?

Studierendenwerk Oldenburg has decided to work with reusable cups from Logi4Cup in future. We call these new cups "MoinCups".

The reason: In recent years, we have realised that the RECUP cups - contrary to expectations - are not "vending machine-compatible".

Some of you will have noticed this. Sometimes the deposit amount was debited at the dispensing machines and then no cup came out because it had become wedged.

The employees on site sometimes had to unlock the machines several times a day, remove the jammed cups and, if necessary, charge the customers' money back. In addition, the machines were sometimes unusable for several hours if the fault occurred in the late afternoon and there were no more staff on site.

Behind the scenes, the RECUPS also had to be sorted at great expense, as they are not all of the same design and this led to difficulties with the machines.

This susceptibility to faults and the high cost are annoying and unsatisfactory for all sides.

What are the advantages of the new MoinCups?

• The cups are more compatible with vending machine technology as they have been specially manufactured for this purpose.
• "Cup jamming" is very unlikely.
• Better material properties

How exactly does the changeover work? Which cups are being used where?

The new cup has been tested for some time now in the cafeteria on Ofener Straße (Jade University of Applied Sciences Oldenburg) and has now also been introduced on the campuses in Emden and Wilhelmshaven. The CaféBars and cafeterias at the University of Oldenburg will follow on 30 October 2025, and the campus in Elsfleth will also receive the new MoinCups in the winter semester 2025/26.

What will stay the same?

There will still be a reusable cup deposit of €1.00. You can also return the cups at the same university locations as you are used to with the RECUPS.

Will there be lids for the MoinCups?

Yes, but unfortunately it is currently not possible to issue deposit lids for the MoinCups. That's why you have the option of buying a lid from us for €1, which fits perfectly on the cups. You simply keep the lid.

Where are the cup machines located?

Location Uhlhornsweg

Return machine - Café Freiraum and next to the cafeteria
Dispensing machine - Café Freiraum and next to the cafeteria, as well as twice in the sales room of the cafeteria

Emden site

Return machine - foyer in front of the café lounge, left-hand side
Dispensing machine - foyer in front of the CaféLounge, right-hand side

Wilhelmshaven site

Reverse vending machine - foyer in front of the canteen
Vending machine - foyer in front of the cafeteria

Return machine - cafeteria to the right of the coffee machines
Dispensing machine - cafeteria to the left of the coffee machines

Are there alternatives to using the MoinCups?

• You bring your own coffee cup.
• You use paper cups, which we offer until the remaining stocks are used up.
• At the Uhlhornsweg location, you can purchase the Mensa cup for €2.

Are the REBOWLS also affected?

No, the REBOWLS will continue to be available.

The Lower Saxony Menu is a discounted menu for students.
You receive a discount of 1.70 euros on a main course. Together with the side dishes, this results in a menu for a maximum of 2.50 euros.

What does the menu consist of?

One dish is labelled as the "Lower Saxony Menu" on the menu every day.
You combine this main course with

• a side dish
  (e.g. salad, vegetables or a starchy side dish such as rice or potatoes)
  Important: Soups do not count as a side dish in the Lower Saxony Menu.
• a dessert

Together, these three parts make up a complete Niedersachsen menu.
As a student, you pay a maximum of 2.50 euros for this at the till.

What else applies?

• If you take fewer than three components, you pay correspondingly less.
• Other combinations of side dishes (e.g. main course + two vegetable bowls) are possible.
• If you choose a soup instead of one of the side dishes mentioned above, the price can easily exceed 2.50 euros .

What is the background to this offer?

The Lower Saxony Menu is made possible by special earmarked funds that the state of Lower Saxony is making available to the Studierendenwerke via its 2026 budget.

Everyone who can show a student ID card can enjoy discounted main meals, side dishes and desserts in our canteens. Employees of the universities and the Studierendenwerk are also allowed to eat in the canteens, but pay slightly more than students.

Of course - we even offer a special service for children of students and university staff: children can put together their own plate from the daily specials. Excluded are main components that cannot be portioned, such as schnitzel, sausages or fish fillets. The children's plate costs just 1 euro and is available up to a maximum age of 10 years. Please let us know at the counter that you would like a children's plate.

The prices for our main meals are made up of the purchase price and a surcharge. In principle, the purchase and production costs still exceed the sales price. The canteens receive subsidies from the state of Lower Saxony in order to cover costs on the one hand and to be able to offer meals at student-friendly prices on the other. The prices for university staff and guests are therefore somewhat higher than for students.

As already explained under "How is the price of the food determined?", the sales price depends on the current prices at which we have purchased our raw materials. Various factors are included in these raw material prices: regional origin, organically grown, species-appropriate husbandry, conventional origin, etc. In addition, our vegan/vegetarian dishes are usually complete menus, i.e. meals including side dishes. This is often not the case with meat or fish dishes. It can therefore be the case that a vegan dish made from high-quality organic ingredients is more expensive than a meat dish. In addition, all our main courses have the same price mark-up, i.e. we do not make meat dishes, for example, artificially more expensive.

Payment with the CampusCard is particularly fast and therefore ensures shorter waiting times at our cash desks. However, it is also possible to pay with cash.

Yes, if you would like to withdraw the remaining amount from your card in cash, you can simply do so at a cash desk in our cafeterias and CaféBars.

More about the CampusCard

We have allergen and additive labelling in all catering establishments, which provides information about the ingredients that are mandatory. This can help you to find the right dish for you. You can filter out dishes with certain ingredients in the online menu on our website.

Due to the wide variety of foods in our kitchens and various cooking processes (e.g. deep-frying), contamination can unfortunately never be completely ruled out despite the utmost care.

The dishes and side dishes labelled "Limited" are usually dishes from the previous day that are offered repeatedly. You can find out more about this under "Sustainability". As these are often smaller quantities, these additional dishes and side dishes are only available in limited quantities.

We always order our food as required and as fresh as possible in order to get the best possible quality. In rare cases, however, problems can occur even with professionals, e.g. delivery difficulties or technical problems in the kitchens. Deviations can also occur if a dish is sold out.

Our canteen managers are very experienced and are therefore quite good at calculating the required portions of food. Nevertheless, it can happen from time to time that many more guests come to the canteens than expected. As a result, it can occasionally happen that a dish is sold out. In this case, however, we always have an adequate alternative on offer so that there is still enough choice for everyone shortly before the end.

We have been buying organic products since the 1980s and all our businesses have been certified organic since 2004. You can see which products we only offer in organic quality on the notice boards in our facilities. At the moment, our organic share (measured in terms of the gross use of goods) is almost 30%, but we naturally want to increase this even further.

We and other Studierendenwerke have been dealing with the question of whether and how CO² (equivalents) of food can be determined and labelled for some time now. There is currently no way for us to determine the CO² values of our food comprehensively and as accurately as possible, as the country of origin, season, cultivation method, preparation method and other factors must be included in the calculation. This would currently involve a disproportionate amount of effort. However, we are working on solutions together with other student services organisations and we are optimistic that we will be able to label the meals one day. Of course, we are also currently paying attention to climate protection and prefer to source our vegetables organically from the region.

Wherever possible, we source meat from species-appropriate animal husbandry. Currently, 100% of the beef, pork and lamb we buy and the cold cuts in the snack area are from Neuland. You can read about Neuland's strict husbandry conditions here:

https://www.neuland-fleisch.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/19_08_23_-Richtlinien-Rinder.pdf

https://www.neuland-fleisch.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/16_06_20_Richtlinien-Schweine.pdf

https://www.neuland-fleisch.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/19_08_23_Richtlinien-Masth%C3%BChner.pdf

It is still difficult to procure poultry meat in organic quality or from species-appropriate animal husbandry, which is why we often resort to conventional products.

You can always tell whether it is conventional or species-appropriate by looking at the labelling on the menu:

G = Poultry meat from species-appropriate animal husbandry

GK = Poultry meat from conventional farming

L = lamb from species-appropriate animal husbandry

R = Beef from species-appropriate animal husbandry

S = Pork from species-appropriate animal husbandry

In our Uhlhornsweg canteen, you can get at least one vegan main course every day, and most of the side dishes are vegan. Vegetarian dishes are also always on offer.

In our other canteens, there is always at least one vegetarian main course and increasingly often a vegan one. Due to the varying demand and capacities in the kitchens and serving areas, the range of vegan dishes on offer depends on the location.

Our range of vegan dishes is growing in our CaféBars and cafeterias.

Our labelling (V = vegetarian, V+ = vegan) helps you to quickly recognise plant-based dishes. You are also welcome to speak to our staff on site.

Due to strict hygiene regulations for communal catering, which are intended to protect our guests from food infections, we cannot bring all the food that was in the food counters back into the kitchens and offer it the next day. That's why we only restock our counters as close to closing time as possible. Any prepared food that has not been processed in the kitchen can be offered the next day as an additional meal or modified as a side dish.

Food that can no longer be used and leftovers are sent for energy recovery. Food waste is used in biogas plants to produce environmentally friendly energy in the form of electricity, heat and bio-diesel components as well as organic fertiliser.

So that you can enjoy our food on the go, we also have the right disposable crockery for all dishes. For several years now, all our disposable tableware has been made from renewable raw materials, such as paper, cardboard or corn starch, rather than aluminium foil or plastic. In Oldenburg, Emden and Wilhelmshaven, we offer the Recup system as an alternative to disposable coffee cups. We are working on establishing good deposit systems for reusable crockery everywhere in the future.

In some catering establishments, we offer the REBOWL as a waste-free and therefore even more environmentally friendly alternative.

Due to our standardised portion sizes and our hygiene requirements, we cannot fill the canteen food into the containers you have brought with you. We can only offer you to fill your canteen meal from your plate into your cans at your seat.

In some canteens, you now have the option of getting the food you want in a REBOWL. A 5 euro deposit is charged for the bowl at the checkout. The reusable containers can be returned in all catering establishments of the Studierendenwerk. The deposit will either be credited back to your card or paid out. Please always return the bowl complete (with lid), otherwise the deposit cannot be refunded. For reasons of hygiene, we reserve the right to reject heavily soiled bowls or bowls with spoilt contents. REBOWL is a Germany-wide deposit system. This means that the bowls can be returned to all partner businesses.

We work to high hygiene and quality standards in our operations. The so-called HACCP concept, a self-monitoring system, ensures that we can establish seamless monitoring of our food. This includes, for example, temperature checks in all production processes. In addition, unannounced internal and external checks are carried out regularly. In this way, we critically scrutinise our system and continuously optimise our processes.

Flyers from university groups and student councils are permitted free of charge, whereby the sender must be recognisable (logo or address). Please do not display more than two flyers per table. The flyers must be collected again in the afternoon. If the flyers are not collected, we will charge a disposal fee of 25 euros.

We provide information about accessibility on the page of each facility. You are also welcome to read the information about our services for cafeteria guests with disabilities.