Debrecen4U November 12, 2025

The super canteen has opened in Debrecen, offering students the freedom to choose their meals and portions

The super canteen has arrived in Debrecen too: with innovative free‑choice dining, young people can pick and taste according to their own needs.

The modern canteen service promotes satiety and a willingness to experiment while also encouraging students to eat healthy. The super canteen was first introduced in Debrecen at the Huszár Gál Gymnasium, Primary School and Kindergarten, but according to plans, public catering will be reformed in many schools next year.

Boiled potatoes and tomato sauce are also served with the meatballs—instead of pre-portioned lunches at the school, children can decide for themselves what and how much they want to eat. Most students say that even the taste of the food has improved since the super canteen started.

“Aranygaluska” (traditional Hungarian dessert), milk porridge, and pasta dishes—according to experience, these are the dishes that young people like to eat most in school canteen. According to some surveys, most children like five, at most ten, types of food, and eighty percent of the food often ends up in the trash without tasting it.

The so-called super canteen, modeled after the Swedish model, aims to reform Hungarian public catering. It offers varied and healthy dishes tailored to the needs of children, and in addition to one soup or 100% fruit juice per day, two main dishes of choice, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, are also included in the menu. Experience so far shows that children have become much more open to foods that are even unfamiliar to them.

“We also receive positive feedback on dishes that many children previously sent back without tasting, such as catfish paprika, mushroom stew, or even grilled liver. These have now become particularly popular,” Csaba Enyedi, Hungast Group’s Communications Director, said at the event organized to officially launch the super canteen on November 11, 2025.

According to experience, the children’s enthusiasm is also greatly influenced by the fact that, unlike the previous system, they talk more in the free‑choice canteen, so they can experience the meal as a real community experience and encourage each other to try new flavors.

“It is important for us that meals are not just a quick necessity but also a community experience. We see that the children enjoy talking while they eat, they feel better, and although the mealtime has been extended a little, we don’t mind it at all,” Tibor Bujdosó, Director of the Huszár Gál Gymnasium, Primary School and Kindergarten, said.

There are more than a hundred such canteens in Hungary, and this number may almost double this school year. The super canteen was introduced in the Huszár Gál Gymnasium, Primary School and Kindergarten for the first time in Hajdú-Bihar.

“Our goal is to turn all ten free‑choice dining locations in the city into super canteens next year. This requires a local government investment of nearly HUF 100 million, and from September we would like to introduce the system in five more schools,” Deputy Mayor Diána Széles explained.

The super canteen also has a meat-free day once a week. Young people can pick up several times during a meal. One important thing: the plate should be empty at the end of the meal. The amount of food waste left over from the previous day is displayed in the canteen, thus encouraging children to consume responsibly.

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu