Thanks to high demand, another Foodvan starts on its route on Wednesday the 8th of April. New stops include Jätkäsaari, Kallio, Kivikko and Malminkartano among others.
UniCafe Chemicum gets a take away sales point at the restaurant door. This will replace the earlier Kumpula Foodvan stop. Foodvan continues to serve at three stops at Viikki.
Chemicum’s takeaway point is in operation from Monday to Friday between 11:30-12:00. Chemicum and Foodvan, as well as Kaivopiha which started selling take away earlier, follow the same menu. You can find the lunch options here: unicafe.fi/en/restaurants/kaivopiha
You can see information on special diets and allergens as well as list of ingredients by clicking the menu cards as usual. Please note that changes to the menu are possible; we apologise beforehand if your preferred meal option isn’t available.
See Foodvan’s schedule here: unicafe.fi/en/foodvan
Students – remember to bring your student ID to be eligible for student prices!
This is how it works
- Remember safe distance in the queue – leave at least one metre between yourself and other customers.
- We accept card payments only – no cash.
- Show your student ID to be eligible for the student discount.
- Once you’ve paid you’ll receive the meal of your preference. Ask for a bag if you need one, but please pack your meal yourself to ensure quick and pleasant shopping experience to all.
The take away meal includes a packed, cold meal and a fruit. We offer two lunch options every day, one of which is vegan. The staff will hand you your chosen meal and payments are made by card. Please note that the take away point might close early if the meals prepared for the day run out.
Even though you might desire a student meal above all please stay home and do not join the queue if you are sick or show signs of a flu or cold.
Prices
Normal price 6,80€ (+0,90 € delivery free)
Students 2,60€ (+0,90 € delivery free)
Post-grad students 4,70€ (+0,90 € delivery free)
Additional information:
Feedback email: feedback@unicafe.fi
Facebook: www.facebook.com/unicafefi/
On the 7th of September, it will be 70 years since the Student Union of the University of Helsinki’s restaurant business was founded. Today, UniCafe is one of the largest student restaurant chains in Finland and is particularly known for its strong sustainable development stance.
This year, UniCafe, the cafe chain owned by HYY, the Student Union of the University of Helsinki, celebrates its 70th anniversary. HYY’s restaurant business started in the 1950s out of necessity. The city had nowhere where students could get food that was both affordable and nutritious enough for their needs.
The social significance of food has not declined in the past 70 years – on the contrary, it has done the opposite.
“The availability of affordable and nutritious food has a direct impact on people’s wellbeing. Food is also a significant climate issue. Approximately one fifth of the average Finn’s carbon footprint comes from food. We want to be at the forefront of the food revolution and blaze the trail with our own actions,” says Ylva’s Business Director Anne Immonen.
In 2019, UniCafe was the centre of attention when the chain completely abandoned the use of beef. Last year, the chain calculated the carbon footprint of all its meals ingredient by ingredient and opened its first entirely vegan restaurant. UniCafe aims to be carbon-neutral by 2025.
UniCafe’s story began at Domus Academica
After the Winter and Continuation Wars, students in Helsinki found themselves struggling to find a place where they could get “proper food for a low price”. In 1951, an editorial in the student newspaper suggested that HYY could solve this problem by running its own affordable student restaurant.
On HYY’s initiative, a restaurant was opened in Domus Academica’s C building in the autumn of 1952. It was run by Miss Ester Wahlman and was required to offer students “nutritious and cheap food”. A year after the restaurant was opened, HYY took up maintenance of the establishment. HYY’s restaurant business expanded in the 1960s and 70s, first into central Helsinki, then onto the university’s other campuses. The cafes were brought under the UniCafe brand in 1988.
“Today, UniCafe has 17 restaurants and cafes and provides catering services on all the University of Helsinki’s campuses. However, the core mission of the chain has not changed. Our goal is still to offer students tasty, nutritious and affordable food,” Immonen says.
Although the anniversary celebrations are in the autumn, the 70th anniversary year will be visible in various ways in UniCafe restaurants throughout 2023.
Citations: Aalto, Sari. Opiskelijaruokailun tekijät: Oy UniCafe Ab 1953–2003. Gaudeamus, Helsinki 2003.
Further information:
Anne Immonen
Business Director, Restaurants
+358 40 512 5008
anne.immonen@ylva.fi
Updated on March 13th at 12:30 PM. The list of open restaurants and their hours may be subject to change. This page will be updated accordingly.
The University of Helsinki announced its decisions on the measures against the novel coronavirus on the 16th of March. The exceptional situation and measures will come in effect on the 16th of March 2020, and has an effect on the UniCafe restaurants and WELL cafes as well; most of the customers at the restaurants and cafes are part of the university community.
The university is placing restrictions on travelling and the sizes of events held by the community, and encourages students to study remotely. Updated information about the coronavirus situation the the university is available here: www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-collegium-for-advanced-studies/coronavirus-situation-at-the-university-of-helsinki
We are closing UniCafe restaurants on every campus, and some restaurants will undergo temporary changes to their opening hours. Our staff will do their best to serve our customers to their best ability, but there may be shortages in products available in case producers run out of ingredients or experience difficulties in delivery schedules.
Restaurants that will be open (situation on the 13th of March):
Kaivopiha
Porthania
WELL Kaisa
Olivia
Meilahti
Ruskeasuo
Chemicum
Biokeskus
Viikuna
Metsätalo
Serpens
The exceptional opening hours will be updated on the UniCafe homepage in the menu view alongside with the individual restaurant’s information. All of our restaurants pay extreme attention to cleanliness, cleaning, and hygiene.Each restaurant has hand sanitiser available in the beginning of the service line, and we ask all our customers to use it before proceeding to take food. On top of this we ask our customers to ensure proper hand and coughing hygiene. You can find the WHO’s info posters here www.who.int/gpsc/5may/resources/posters/en/
We at UniCafe are constantly monitoring the guidelines and recommendations for restaurant operators, and work together with the University of Helsinki leadership.
Restaurants that will be closed as a result of the exceptional situation starting from Monday, 16th of March (situation on the 13th of March):
Päärakennus
Rotunda
Soc&Kom
Topelias
WELL Terkko
Korona
Exactum
Physicum
More information:
Jannica Aalto, Marketing and communications director, 0451347636
The lunch café on the bottom floor of the National Library of Finland is a great place for library visitors to take a coffee break or grab lunch.
UniCafe Rotunda is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 2 pm. Lunch is served from 11 am to 1:30 pm.
Rotunda’s lunch selection includes soup, bowls and paninis. There is always a vegan lunch option available. Lunch also includes a salad and fresh bread baked in-house.
The café offers sweet and savoury items to accompany tea or coffee, including cinnamon buns baked in-house, cakes, cookies, croissants, and sandwiches. The selection also includes snacks, refreshments and sweets.
UniCafe Rotunda’s lunch dishes are offered at student prices and are also available at staff prices for University of Helsinki employees.
Please note that in the National Library of Finland, food and drink may only be consumed in the restaurant premises. They are not available for take-away.
UniCafe Rotunda is located at Unioninkatu 36.
All UniCafe lunch menus can be found on the mobile app menu.unicafe.fi and website www.unicafe.fi/en
Image: Karson, Unsplash
UniCafe will be serving customers on all four campuses this summer. The UniCafes open all summer are Chemicum, Infokeskus, Kaivopiha and Meilahti.
Lunch can be enjoyed at the restaurant or taken away, and the cafeteria selection will feature smaller snacks and refreshing drinks, for example.
Breakfast on the lawn, lunch in the park
UniCafe offers all you need to create a nutritious breakfast. All UniCafe restaurants offer affordable café products, including sandwiches and rolls, yoghurts, juices and smoothies, small sweet treats and, of course, coffee and tea.
Going on a picnic? Grab a panini or baguette, fruit and a cold drink. In the summer, our drink offers include Hartwall’s Novelle Mango and Jaffa Lemonade.
In the summer, you can buy lunch to go and enjoy it in the park. The most environmentally friendly way of buying takeaway food is to bring your own container.
All UniCafe lunch menus the latest opening hours can be found on the mobile app menu.unicafe.fi and website www.unicafe.fi/en
In order to avoid risking infection of our customers or members of our staff we are taking extra measures to ensure proper cleanliness and sanitisation of surfaces and equipment in our restaurants. Hand sanitiser is available in all of our restaurants. We ask our customers to kindly ensure good hygiene before picking up utensils, trays or plates and before moving on to take food.
According to THL (the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare) the best way to shield oneself from the virus and other respiratory infections is to wash one’s hands thoroughly and cough properly, for example, by coughing into the elbow or armpit). You can view the WHO’s guide on how to wash your hands properly here: www.who.int/gpsc/5may/How_To_HandWash_Poster.pdf
You can read the latest updates and news related to viral infections and the novel coronavirus at thl.fi/en/web/thlfi-en
Opening on Monday the 26th of August at Biocentre 1 on the Viikki Campus, UniCafe Biocentre offers food made in-house from scratch using local ingredients.
UniCafe’s newest restaurant is a combination of everything that makes the Viikki Campus so special and unique: pure Finnish ingredients, the rich but unpretentious selection of rural marketplaces and the cutting edge of the latest food innovations.
All the food served in the restaurant is prepared in-house from scratch. Its delicious baked goods – such as the sourdough bread and rolls served at lunch – are prepared by the restaurant’s own baker.
“We want to prove that a high degree of self-preparation and the use of fresh local ingredients is also possible in a large student restaurant,” says Anne Immonen, Business Director of Ylva.
“Our aim is to continue to find more opportunities for cooperation with local providers and further increase the share of local produce in our offerings. Local produce is at the heart of our concept, and we warmly welcome everyone living in Viikki to our restaurant,” Immonen continues.
Quick and easy self-service restaurant, plus fresh delicacies at a price per kilo from the food market
UniCafe Biocentre has a self-service system for quick and easy access, allowing you to choose your favourites from the day’s hot lunch options.
You can pay for the products in the self-service buffet at the self-service checkout, which is at the restaurant entrance. Students get a discount on lunch by showing the QR code in the Frank app when paying. As with all UniCafés, we offer the staff of the University of Helsinki a special, affordable staff rate.
The restaurant’s food market serves a delicious breakfast with a variety of scrumptious options to choose from in the morning from 8 to 10 am. Our breakfast crowd-pullers include oatmeal porridge cooked slowly overnight, homemade crispy waffles and sourdough rolls.
Alternatively, you can choose from our pre-packed hearty breakfast buffet, which includes oatmeal porridge, savoury or sweet waffles, eggs, rolls, a yoghurt bar and tea or coffee.
At lunchtime, the food market offers a selection of delicious filling salads, a pickle bar and freshly baked products from our bakery. Lunch at the food market works like this: you choose what you want, weigh it, pay for it and enjoy.
Affordable lunch for all Viikki residents
A normal-price lunch of the day costs €8.70 at UniCafe Biocentre. Our basic lunch costs students €2.95 and students in a doctoral programme €5.55. The price for University of Helsinki staff for lunch of the day is €7.00. Our vegan meals are 10 cents cheaper than other options for all customers.
The products at the food market cost €14.90 per kilo, and customers can put together their favourites and choose how much they want. The breakfast buffet is €16.00 for all customers, and you can also choose from a selection of separately priced items. There is no student discount on the products sold at the food market.
UniCafe Biocentre is open from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm and on Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm. Lunch is served on weekdays from 11 am to 6 pm and on Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm. Breakfast in the food market is served from Monday to Friday between 8 and 10 am.
The restaurant is open to all customers, and you can also buy lunch and bakery products as take-away.
Later this autumn, we will open a separate service point in Biocentre 2, offering quick savoury and sweet snacks.
UniCafe Biocentre is located at Viikinkaari 9.
You can find the lunch menus of all UniCafés and their up-to-date opening hours on our mobile app at menu.unicafe.fi and on our website at www.unicafe.fi/en
Additional information:
Anne Immonen
Business Director
+358 40 512 5008
anne.immonen@ylva.fi
Updated on 17.3. at 13:15. Opening hours are subject to change and this page will be updated accordingly.
The government of Finland has ordered university premises to be closed until the 13th of April and all close contact teaching at the premises shall be halted or replaced by remote teaching. Due to this some UniCafe restaurants and WELL cafes are closed until the 13th of April.
Together with the University of Helsinki we have agreed that the following restaurants will stay in operation at least until Friday the 20th of March: Biokeskus, Chemicum, Kaivopiha, Meilahti, Olivia, Porthania, and Serpens. The current exceptional opening hours can be found on our front page in the menu view, alongside with each restaurant’s information.
Here you will find a list of the exceptional hours according to the current situation:
Kaivopiha 10.30-17, Sat closed
Serpens 7.30-14.30, lunch 10.45-13.30
Porthania 8.30-14, lunch 10.30-14
Chemicum 8-14, lunch 11-14 (staff restaurant side, open to all customers)
Biokeskus 7.45-14, lunch 10.30-14
Olivia 8.30-14, lunch 10.30-14 (student restaurant side)
Meilahti 8-14.30, lunch 10.30-14
Due to the exceptional situation we are also allowed to sell student meals to go. This means that every restaurant currently open are selling student lunch as takeout during lunchtime as well.
According to The Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa visiting a restaurant or cafe is not a public gathering, and thus our services are not subject to the restriction of such gatherings to a maximum of 10 people.
We at UniCafe are closely monitoring the situation and guidelines set for restaurant operators, and are working together with the leadership of the University of Helsinki.
You can read more about the novel corona virus situation at the University of Helsinki here: www.helsinki.fi/en/news/coronavirus-situation-at-the-university-of-helsinki
UniCafe’s customer satisfaction survey was carried out online in November 2022. According to the results of the survey, UniCafe is seen as dependable and affordable. Customers are particularly interested in sustainable options and vegan restaurant services.
The responses to the survey particularly highlighted the respondents’ trust in UniCafe and the affordability of its services. 83 per cent of the respondents considered UniCafe dependable, and UniCafe’s affordability was mentioned more than 600 times in comments. The UniCafe brand is also associated with professionalism (84% of respondents) and sustainability (82% of respondents).
Approximately 60 per cent of the respondents recognised the owner of the UniCafe brand, Ylva, which is also heavily associated with sustainability (over 100 mentions in comments).
Customers value sustainability
The responses show that UniCafe’s sustainability is perceived particularly in the availability of vegetarian food and the choice of ingredients. Especially, the respondents expressed positive opinions on the use of self-grown vegetables as ingredients in UniCafe products. Offering customers the option to offset the emissions resulting from their meal and UniCafe’s decision to stop serving beef were also seen as positive climate actions.
59 per cent of the respondents felt that sustainability was a factor in their lunch choices. Promoting sustainable choices and the availability of vegetarian options every day were particularly important. More than half of the respondents also expressed interest in vegan restaurant services.
“We have been listening to our customers when it comes to increasing the number of vegan options on our menus, and last year we opened the entirely vegan Myöhä Bar & Café, which offers vegan lunches at student prices. We want to support sustainable dining, which is why we also intend to increase the number of vegan options in our other locations over the course of the next year,” says Business Director Anne Immonen.
The responses to the survey are being used to develop UniCafe’s business
The customer satisfaction survey provides invaluable information on customers’ experiences and opinions. 20 per cent of the respondents felt that the quality of UniCafe had improved over the course of the past year, while 40 per cent felt it had declined. The survey also uncovered areas in need of development: Respondents wanted more variety in vegan options and improvements in the comfort of the restaurant environments.
“We received a wealth of responses, and we are extremely grateful to everyone who took part. Our customers are clearly interested in participating in the development of UniCafe, and we are eager to take their feedback on board to help us develop and meet the wishes of our customers. We are still in the process of returning to normal operations post pandemic, and we will be making the most of the survey responses to develop our business. We will be going over the feedback with our cafes and making development plans on the basis of that feedback,” Immonen says.
Responses to the online customer satisfaction survey were collected via email and a publicly available link in November 2022. A total of 2,852 UniCafe customers responded to the survey.
Read more about the results of the customer satisfaction survey here (in Finnish): https://www.innolink.fi/case/unicafe-tiedote-2022/
More information:
Anne Immonen
Business Director
+358 40 512 5008
anne.immonen@ylva.fi