Photo Roelof Kleis On the campus, you must be flush to afford a bowl of soup. Depending on the building, a bowl will set you back between 1.95 and 3.10 euros. This puts WUR at the top of the list of soup prices at Dutch universities. The only other university that charges 1.95 for a bowl of steaming soup is the Radboud University in Nijmegen. At other universities, the price is mostly half that.
This is made public by a comparative study of cafeteria prices at Dutch universities conducted by UKrant, Groningen University’s student magazine. Due to the fact that the new caterer, Compass Group Nederland, was just setting up at WUR, our organisation does not feature on the list. But a survey of the price of soup in Wageningen done by the editors reveals that WUR tops the list. Impulse caterer OSP takes the proverbial cake at 3.10 euros for a serving of soup of the day.
We should not compare apples to oranges
Lisanne Blom, accountmanager Compass
The large majority of students and employees lunch elsewhere on the campus. Compass is the new caterer for these buildings. In Orion, Forum and the Leeuwenborch, the menu offers a choice of two different soups, says account manager Lisanne Blom: one for 1.95 euros and one for 2.75 euros per 250-millilitre serving. The soup that is priced at 2.75 euros is supplied by the Waste Factory.
Side note
Blom has read the UKrant survey and adds a few side notes. The serving size is not stated and may not be the same everywhere. ‘And, are the soups costing 0.95 euros also rich in ingredients, freshly cooked and with a serving size of 250 ml? Or is it 150 millilitres of clear broth? We should not compare apples to oranges.’
Resource is currently working on a story about the pricing and quality of campus restaurants and catering. Email resource@wur.nl if you have any tips or suggestions.
Soup prices
Wageningen University & Research 2.751
Radboud University Nijmegen 1.95
Groningen University 1.80
Utrecht University 1.50
Erasmus University Rotterdam 1.402
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 1.30
Technical University Delft 0.95
Tilburg University 0.953
Maastricht University 0.85
University of Amsterdam —-
(1) also offers soup for 1.95
(2) small serving for 0.95
(3) small serving for 0.65
Thanks for confirming what I had been wondering about: the price of the soup has seemed outrageous to me, plus the soup bowls are way smaller than we were used to (at Leeuwenborch at least).
Have no agreements been made about budget options being available?
Just to add to this: yesterday I had the following experience at Forum. Cans of soda were advertised for 2,15 but at the counter I had to pay 2,34. This is a 19 ct difference, which the person at the counter could not explain. Is this ‘statiegeld’? But that’s set at 15 cts so would only explain it partly. Plus it was unclear whether I would get anything back if I would return the empty can to them. Rather, I was pointed to a deposit near the entrance where I could dispose of my can. Something does not feel quite right about this.
Gemma van der Haar