“The value for money is unbeatable”

What’s your favorite dish, Patrik Beetz?

Patrik Beetz: There are a lot of dishes I enjoy eating. I particularly like to eat fish, preferably ones I catch myself in Lake Zurich, where I grew up. I also like risotto because you can vary it seasonally really nicely, with asparagus in spring and mushrooms in the fall, for example.

Any food you dislike?

I eat almost everything. I wouldn’t cook tripe, though, nor would I order it in a restaurant. I can also do without the rice pudding that we sometimes make at home for our three children.

You’ve been working for UZH since the start of June. There are around 20 cafeteria sites across the entire university. Have you already eaten at each of them?

During my first weeks at UZH, I visited each cafeteria in the company of the person in charge at ZFV, the organization that runs the sites. That way I was able to find out what challenges the cafeterias face and was able to ascertain what works well and what doesn’t. We were on the move for a total of four days and ate at a different cafeteria each time. But since we didn’t want to eat five lunches per day, at some cafeterias we concentrated on talking with the people in charge of running them. I would like to eat at all of the cafeterias once by this fall.

What was your first impression of the cafeteria fare?

The cafeterias serve varied, well-presented, high-quality food. The value for money is unbeatable.

What are your duties?

I am the general manager of the cafeteria portfolio, and by virtue of that position, I also chair the university’s Catering Board (Mensaboard). In this role, I am the central coordinator for UZH in matters concerning cafeterias, sustainable dining and the further development of foodservice offerings. This means that I represent the interests of UZH as the contracting entity, verify contract fulfillment and initiate innovations and improvements. So, I am in constant contact with ZFV, the outfit that runs our cafeterias and catering service.

How is the division of responsibilities with ZFV arranged?

UZH provides the infrastructure and sets general conditions concerning sustainability, opening times and prices, for example. As the contracting entity, we have an interest in seeing to it that students, who make up 80% of the cafeteria guests, receive healthy meals at an affordable price and in ensuring that ZFV can operate profitably. Foodservice is a tough business, profit margins are tight, and the shortage of skilled personnel is very palpable.

ZFV sets the menus, is responsible for procuring and preparing the food and is in charge of hiring cafeteria staff. In addition to operating the cafeterias, ZFV can also be booked to cater events.

Patrik Beetz is a graduate of the college of hotel and restaurant management in Lucerne and later went on to earn a postgraduate degree in business economics. Prior to joining UZH, he held positions as the food & beverage manager at Hotel zum Storchen in Zurich, as the operations manager of the cafeteria at the Zurich University of Teacher Education, as a senior executive at the Migros Zurich cooperative and as the owner and CEO of Beetz Gastronomie GmbH and its portfolio of restaurants for 13 years.

Have you already planned any changes?

The Catering Council has worked out a strategy and sets priorities. For example, in November a Fondue-Stübli will be set up on Irchel Campus for three weeks, during which time it can also be rented for events. Other topics are about how we can design evening foodservice as attractively as possible for students and UZH employees or how we can integrate catering trade food trends in general into UZH’s cafeteria operations. In addition, a new Italian food spot called Insieme will open in mid-September in the RAI building at Rämistrasse 74.

Who can guests turn to with suggestions or feedback?

They can address specific requests or feedback on the quality of individual dishes directly to the ZFV cafeteria managers onsite. The site representatives for the Irchel, City and Oerlikon campuses (see box) are the right people to turn to with suggestions on how to further refine foodservice operations at UZH. It is important to me to further develop foodservice options and to provide attractive offerings to guests.