For Media and Press

Act 24: 50 years of student meals

Julkaistu 01.10.2012

Student meals in Oulu will be 50 years old this autumn. Uniresta, the sprightly fifty-year-old, has looked after the well-being of students with over 17 million tasty student meals. This achievement will, of course, be celebrated with good food.

The fundamentals of student nutrition in Oulu were transformed in 1962 when Oulun Ylioppilasapu ry, an organisation with the goal of providing nourishing food at student-friendly prices, was set up. This restaurant and catering company that is now known as Uniresta, is celebrating its fifth decade of student meals.

Anniversary lunch at all Uniresta restaurants on 3 October.

A week of celebrations will be held during the first week of October when there will be an anniversary lunch at all Uniresta restaurants on Wednesday 3 October. Nowadays all lovers of good food are welcome to eat at the restaurants owned by the successor of the student charity.

A short history of Uniresta will be published at a private event on Thursday 4 October and a 50th anniversary logo has also been designed to mark the anniversary year.

“We are delighted to have been involved in promoting student well-being for 50 years now. We have calculated that over the past 50 years our service sector professionals have prepared and served over 17 million tasty and nutritional student meals. This is a long history for quite a small, but these days already medium-sized, company from Oulu. Now that is worth celebrating,” says Kaija-Liisa Silvennoinen, managing director of Uniresta Catering.

The celebrations kicked off during the University of Oulu’s opening week when Uniresta participated in the morning event on the opening day at the Rotuaari pedestrian zone. Uniresta served glasses of lingonberry juice and bowls of pea and ham soup, which is a long-standing favourite dish that has been on the menu for 50 years.

Oulu’s middle-aged and medium-sized company

Uniresta Oy is a restaurant and catering company, owned by Oulu’s student societies and established in 1992, which is continuing the cafeteria operations that were started by Oulun Ylioppilasapu ry in 1962. Over the years, the business has expanded from student restaurants to staff restaurants and today includes 11 restaurants and two cafes in Oulu and a stationery shop in the university campus. In addition to all this, the Uniresta Juhlat company provides high-quality banqueting and catering services. Uniresta employs approximately 100 service sector professionals.

Uniresta Oy is owned by Oulun Ylioppilasapu ry and the Student Union of the University of Oulu, which are both student societies. Uniresta Oy’s profits are used to support student well-being and develop Uniresta for its customers, owners and employees. A substantial share of the profits are returned to the student societies as dividends and handed out by Oulun Ylioppilasapu ry in the form of student grants.

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Oulu’s ‘100 Acts’ programme brings the municipalities of the Oulu region together and gives everyone the chance to turn the spotlight on worthy actions that take us forward. Take a look at the ‘100 Acts’ programme and submit your own project or candidate, at www.oulu.com/100tekoa