Rostock students: New school meals are coming soon from Rhineland-Palatinate!

Rostock students: New school meals are coming soon from Rhineland-Palatinate!

A change is imminent: Rostock begins the new school year in September with a serious change in the food supply. Five years ago, the city decided to prepare lunch for more than 16,000 students at city schools in its own commercial kitchen. But the implementation is a long time coming because the commercial kitchen is not yet finished. This delay has consequences that primarily affect the students and the “Mittagsmätrosen” company. In order to ensure continuous supply, the city was forced to carry out a Europe-wide tender, as NDR reports.

The order was won by a company from Rhineland-Palatinate, which will now supply the frozen food for the schools. Pricing is also an issue: from the previous price of 4.76 euros per meal, the costs now rise to 5.41 euros. Education Senator Steffen Bockhahn informs that even if delivery from the Rostock kitchen had been made, an increase in costs would have been necessary. The new regulation makes it clear that providing for students cannot be ignored in financial aspects.

Details about the tender

The company “Mittagsmatrosen GmbH”, which is a public institution under the supervision of a regional authority, was awarded the contract for the delivery. The order includes the supply of meal components for schools in Rostock, and a total of between 3,600 and 4,500 meals per day are expected to be delivered here between June 15, 2025 and August 31, 2026. The distribution is designed so that 60% of the meals are intended for the primary level while 40% is provided for the secondary level.

In order to ensure the quality of the delivery, various suitability criteria and evidence, such as [ausschreiben-deutschland.de](https://ausschreiben-deutschland.de/2306168_Deutschland__Zu Preparete_Mahlzeiten__Die_Mittagsmatrosen_GmbH_ Lieferung_von_2025_Rostock), must be specified. This includes, among other things, a minimum annual turnover of two million euros in the last three years as well as references for comparable services. The award criteria also emphasize the importance of samples and organic ingredients.

The challenges of school meals

School meals in Germany therefore face a variety of challenges. The planned measures must not only be economical, but also qualitative and sustainable. The Hessen Teaching Academy emphasizes that tenders are usually complex and require a detailed description of the services. Practical cooperation between the schools and the new supply unit plays a crucial role here.

The road to well-thought-out school meals is a long one, but Rostock is now taking it a little further: with the emphasis on quality, taste and compliance with ecological standards, the coming school years should not only produce well-fed but also happier students.