VW headquarters in Wolfsburg
In the future, meat will be served again in the so-called brand high-rise.
(Photo: imago/photothek)
After a long break, the popular VW currywurst will soon be back on the menu in the VW canteen in the Wolfsburg board building. The canteen was recently meat-free. But since August 7, meat and fish have been offered again there on the first floor of the board building, which is also used by assembly line workers, a spokeswoman said.
The currywurst could also come back into the program. She left it open when the sausage would be served for the first time. The vegan version of the sausage also remains in the range. First the NDR had reported.
The decision to switch the canteen in the so-called brand high-rise in Wolfsburg to meat-free food caused a stir two years ago. In particular, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s reaction to the “power bar for skilled workers in production” fueled a debate about meat consumption in companies at the time.
“If I were still on the #VW supervisory board, this would not have happened,” Schröder wrote on LinkedIn.
The ban from a company restaurant in Wolfsburg never diminished demand for the VW currywurst. Despite the corona pandemic and the conversion of the canteen in the executive building to vegan cuisine, sales of the factory meat product even increased, according to VW last year.
Volkswagen Currywurst
The decision to switch the canteen in the so-called brand high-rise in Wolfsburg to meat-free food caused a stir two years ago.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
VW had defended the decision at the time. “There’s nothing wrong with the currywurst, which we still offer in all other canteens at the plant,” said Nils Potthast, head of VW gastronomy at the time. After all, VW has more than 30 canteens and kiosks in the factory and the currywurst remained in the program in all the others.
During the pandemic, VW even introduced a delivery service so that employees working from home could get their currywurst. In the end, as VW said at the time, even more currywurst were sold than before the pandemic.
VW responds to employee survey
When he took office a year ago, VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer revealed that he was a fan of the classic car. “Let’s have a currywurst!” he said in July 2022 at the end of his welcome video. A few days earlier, the head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, had even promoted the meat product at the works meeting: “It’s best to take a pack of currywurst and ketchup home with you,” she said in her speech to the workforce in June 2022.
With the return of meat and fish to the last vegan canteen in the brand high-rise, VW says it responded to an employee survey earlier this year. “Following the wishes of the workforce, the company restaurant of the brand high-rise has been offering an additional component with fish or meat since August 7th, 2023, in addition to the vegan and vegetarian dishes,” says the spokeswoman.
This is intended to enable groups in which only individual employees want to eat vegan to visit the canteen. This should also relieve other canteens to which such groups have had to switch in the past. “It is therefore still an individual decision and is up to each and every person whether meat or fish, vegetarian or vegan is preferred in their personal diet,” emphasized the spokeswoman.
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