For many years it has been the most popular meal in German canteens. But in the corona pandemic, the currywurst has to vacate its top spot. For the second time in a row, a pasta dish tops the charts.
When it came to the most popular canteen food, spaghetti bolognese again prevailed over currywurst last year. In the ranking of the catering service provider Apetito, the pasta dish had displaced the classic from number one for the first time in 28 years.
The vegetarian dish "Cappelletti-Pesto-Fanne" came in third in 2021, followed by chicken "korma" with rice and Alaska pollock with ratatouille vegetables and potatoes. A vegetarian lentil soup was able to maintain its top position in day-care centers and schools. Potato and carrot stew and chicken fricassee with peas and rice follow in second and third place.
Based in Rheine, North Rhine-Westphalia, Apetito is one of the three largest catering companies in Germany. In 2021, the family business had catering contracts with almost 700 canteens, clinics, retirement homes, schools and daycare centers. In 2021, the company continued to struggle with pandemic-related closures.
Due in part to the sale of a subsidiary at the end of July, group sales fell by 2.2 percent to a good one billion euros. In the area of the system business with frozen menus, which has by far the highest turnover, the bottom line was 40 million euros, three million euros more than in 2020. The company did not provide any information on the earnings situation of the entire group.
Apetito expects significant sales growth for the current year. However, the increasing cost of goods sold cannot be foreseen, said the managing director of the catering division, Andreas Oellerich. At the end of 2021, Apetito employed almost 11,800 people. According to Apetito, in 1971 it was the first company in Germany to introduce the "meals on wheels" deep-freeze system.
