A recent ÖH survey on the €2 canteen campaign clearly shows that affordable prices determine whether students use canteens.
Vienna (OTS) – The local students who took advantage of the special offer at TU Vienna last Friday, provided by ÖH and HTU Vienna, were surveyed. Here, students could get a hot meal for €2 with their ID card. Over 83% of those surveyed said they only went to eat in the canteen because of the €2 canteen promotion. At the same time, the survey shows that more than half of the students surveyed (56.2%) never go to the canteen otherwise. The main reason for this is clear: around 80% of those who avoid the canteen cite excessive prices as the decisive obstacle. Regular canteen users are clearly in the minority: only 8.5% eat there (almost) every day.
Expensive canteen offerings are simply unaffordable for many. The canteens are therefore rated critically. On average, participating students rated the canteen at their location with only 5 out of 10 points, which indicates significant problems with value for money and attractiveness. ‘Canteens should not be a luxury,’ emphasises Selina Wienerroither from the ÖH chair team, adding: Canteens are much more than just a place to eat; they are central meeting places and learning spaces, and their affordable offerings are intended to provide a measure of social security in everyday student life. If students cannot afford lunch, participation in university life becomes a question of money for many.
Viktoria Kudrna picks up on this social responsibility and broadens the perspective to include ecological aspects: affordable canteens are also a question of sustainability: this is the only way to make regional, seasonal and climate-friendly offerings accessible to everyone – without students having to resort to unhealthy alternatives for financial reasons. The survey clearly shows that structural solutions are urgently needed, explains Umut Ovat: We need a well-funded, comprehensive canteen system that is affordable for all students. This is the only way to ensure that everyone can get a hot lunch on a regular basis without the price being an obstacle.
The results confirm the ÖH’s demands for a comprehensive, publicly funded canteen system with permanently affordable prices of no more than €3 for lunch, good quality food and genuine co-determination by students and employees. Affordable canteens are not an additional service, but a basic prerequisite for social participation and equal opportunities at universities.
306 students took part in the survey. The results are not representative of the total number of students in Austria.
Link to the survey results: https://www.oeh.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ergebnisse_auswertung.docx.pdf
Link to OTS:
https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20260203_OTS0063?app=1
