Since summer 2025, the Studierendenwerk Würzburg (Würzburg student services) has been selling certain dishes as Klimateller (i.e. climate dishes). These are designed to produce fewer CO₂ emissions than others. When does a dish qualify as a Klimateller, and what do students at THWS and the University of Würzburg have to say about it?
Published on 17 June 2026
For many students, it’s the best part of the day at uni: the lunch break spent together in the canteen, enjoying Käsespätzle, currywurst, or a colourful salad. Choosing the right dish isn’t always that easy. That’s because there are several meals to choose from in the Würzburg canteens. Since the summer of 2025, at least one of these has featured a blue logo with the words Klimateller. But what’s it all about?
“The Klimateller is a dish that generates at least 50 per cent fewer CO₂ emissions than comparable conventional dishes,” says David Fleischhauer. He has been working for Studierendenwerk Würzburg since 2017 and has been part of the management team for university catering since 2024. The Studierendenwerk operates sites in Würzburg, Schweinfurt, Bamberg, and Aschaffenburg. Fleischhauer’s office is located directly above the canteen at the Studentenhaus in Würzburg, where many students from THWS also eat regularly.
Products are standardised
The project called “Klimateller in den Mensen” (translates to climate dishes in the canteens) is running across Germany and was funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as part of the National Climate Protection Initiative. The Dresden-based initiative Nahhaft launched the Klimateller. The management of the Studierendenwerk decided to take part in the project in order to set an example of responsible resource management. In addition, student representatives in various cities expressed a desire to support canteen diners in adopting a climate-conscious diet. David Fleischhauer describes it as a challenge: “It’s not at all easy to reconcile aspirations with reality.” To manage the complex task of data collection and analysis, the Würzburg branch is working with the service provider Eaternity. The Swiss company collects data on the products purchased by the Studierendenwerk. A database records, for example, where a schnitzel comes from, what nutrients it contains, and also what additives it includes.
This enables Eaternity to standardise every product using a single unit. “Our rating system uses the so-called ‘Daily Food Unit’ (DFU) as a standardisation measure,” says Yagmur Deniz-Sari, executive assistant. This takes into account how filling a dish is, based on its nutritional content. This is necessary because, for example, 100 grams of peppers cannot be compared with 100 grams of turkey when it comes to quantity, water content and nutritional values such as calories, fats and proteins. “This method enables an assessment that is independent of portion size, meaning that a fair comparison between dishes of different sizes – from a small salad to a large pizza – is possible,” says Yagmur Deniz-Sari.
Demand determines supply
The Klimateller focuses exclusively on the CO₂ emissions generated. Eaternity takes into account all emissions incurred from the field to the kitchen. However, the label does not consider other criteria such as water scarcity, biodiversity, health or social sustainability criteria. Emissions arise, for example, from livestock farming, the clearing of forests for agriculture, and the use of fossil fuels in production and transport.
Among other things, Eaternity looks at how much CO₂ the machinery emits during harvesting, the route taken to transport the food, or how much electricity the butcher’s shop consumes in the case of animal products. Based on all these factors, the company calculates a CO₂ value per DFU. If this value is significantly lower than that of dishes with the same nutritional values, Eaternity designates the dish as a Klimateller. For the comparison, the company draws on data from a survey of 150 chain restaurants conducted over a three-year period.
Since introducing the Klimateller, David Fleischhauer and his team have been focusing more on climate-friendly food and have learnt a great deal. Nevertheless, the Studierendenwerk’s menu will continue to be guided by demand in future. “We’re working with the same recipes we’ve used up to now, and we’re evaluating them,” says Fleischhauer. In future, it will be possible to assess how the Klimateller is received by students and other customers. “Fundamentally, demand will continue to determine what we offer. If it turns out that this is our Klimateller, we’ll promote it accordingly,” says Fleischhauer.
The Klimateller is not always vegetarian or vegan
The Studierendenwerk records every meal sold via the till system. According to this data, the currywurst with chips has been the most popular dish for years. Due to the high degree of processing and the fat content, it is unlikely ever to be classified as a Klimateller, says Fleischhauer. Other meat or fish dishes, on the other hand, could well be considered climate-friendly if, for example, the animals were reared outdoors or organically and the side dishes contain plenty of vegetables.
So, in principle, it’s not just vegetarian or vegan dishes that qualify as Klimateller, even though these generally have the best credentials. In the week before Christmas 2025, for example, the blue logo could be found in the canteen at the Studentenhaus alongside the vegan Mezzelune dumplings filled with spinach, the Mie noodle stir-fry with fresh vegetables, and the sweet potato hot pot with vegetables and peanuts.
Students’ feedback has been overwhelmingly positive
As students are increasingly opting for vegetarian or vegan dishes out of conviction or for health reasons, they often end up automatically buying the Klimateller. Take Pauline, for example, who is studying Politics and Social Sciences at the University of Würzburg. “I think the Klimateller concept is brilliant, and I reckon there should be even more of them,” she says. In front of her is a Mexican rice dish, which is today’s Klimateller. Her friend Vanessa is also a vegetarian. The Law student also thinks the Klimateller is a good idea. She’d seen the logo before, but didn’t know exactly what the concept behind it was.
A few tables away sits Manuel. He’s studying Specialised Translation at THWS. He, too, wasn’t aware of the exact background to the Klimateller until now, which was one reason why he hadn’t consciously opted for one before. “For me, this label isn’t that important because I don’t know exactly why a particular dish is designated a Klimateller,” he says. Generally speaking, though, Manuel is less concerned about his food choices than, say, Pauline or Vanessa. “I usually just go for whatever dish I fancy most at the time,” he says.
For his fellow student Eileen, price is also a key factor. A glance at the menu shows that even budget-conscious students can benefit from the Klimateller: in many cases, the Klimateller is also relatively inexpensive.
Since its launch in 2024, the Klimateller has been offered by 19 student services organisations across Germany, six of which are in Bavaria (as of January 2026). The Nahhaft initiative has also developed a desktop app in collaboration with the software developer Eaternity and other organisations: with the KlimaTeller app, anyone interested can calculate the carbon footprint of their meals themselves.
