TUN feedback - Food & Drink

Click on the titles to view the feedback and response

_{Please note: comments and responses may have been edited. Information was correct at time of response but may have been superseded. We publish the comments in the language in which they have been submitted and the University's responses bilingually.}

 22/23 Semester 2

• REF: 66-2306-1758305 - Chai Lattes at IBERbach

  Your comment: Hello, I like all the university cafes but the IBERS one is closest to me and for me as a person who does not drink coffee, there is basically only two options for hot drinks. I really like Chai tea latte and it is in all other cafes of the uni but not in IBERS, is there any specific reason why is it like that? I'd actually love to get my chai latte very often but the amount of work I have doesn't allow me to wonder around campus that much so I usually just pop into IBERS on the way to the office. Would it be possible to add chai latte in IBERS as it is Starbucks anyway and they already use milk? Thank you!

  Our response:

  Thank you for your tell us now. The Chai Latte that you request is a Starbucks branded drink and as such we do not sell it presently in Iberbach as this is not a Starbucks unit.  However we will look into this and see if we are able to source a similar product. 

  We thank you for your feedback and we hope to be able to look to provide as similar drink in the near future. 

• REF: 66-2306-944302 - Bring Back Nosh Da

  Your comment: Please bring back Nosh Da! It filled a good gap for Uni food delivery, and the food was fairly good, despite the menu becoming unreliable shortly before the service was stopped.

  Our response:

  Thank you for the tell us now regarding the Nosh delivery service. This was stopped last June 2022 and was not resumed at the start of this year due to demand falling after COVID restrictions eased. In order to compensate for this we have amended our service times and style to be able to offer hot food in the Foodhall 7 days a week , and up to 9 O’clock in the evenings as well.  

  It is felt that in order for us to be able to offer the best value to students (including a £2.50 hot meal) this is best achieved by keeping our costs as low as possible in order for us to ensure we can offer our food at the lowest possible price. With the incumbent costs that come with a delivery service, as well as the proliferation of other food delivery portals for students, it was felt there is not the need for us to engage in this market as it brought no benefit to the students. 

  Whilst we thank you for your comments, there are no plans to reintroduce this service at the present moment in time. However we always do review our service provision to be in line with the student needs, so if this does change then we will of course revisit this. 

• REF: 66-2303-8486316 - More Vegetarian Options in the Food Hall

  Your comment: The £2.50 value meals in the food hall are a great idea, however, they always seem to contain meat and there is never a vegetarian option

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback. The value meal hot dish of the day for £2.50 is prepared fresh daily. This will sometimes be vegan, vegetarian or meat. As well as this there is always the Ramen option as a value £2.50 meal as well during the lunchtime. The ramen is available to be vegan and gluten free if required. We always ensure that we always have a vegan and vegetarian option for the value meal available all day. 

  However your question does raise that we might need to review our signage of these to make sure everyone is aware of the options for them. 

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we hope you will enjoy the alternative options available as standard. 

• REF: 66-2302-5841528 - Ice Cream on Campus

  Your comment: Seeing as though the spring is fast approaching and the weather will hopefully be improving, it would be nice to have somewhere on campus that sold ice cream. Perhaps in the SU shop? I think a lot of people would really appreciate this and would be very popular with students. Having spoken to others about this, they are also in agreement with me. If this is a possibility, I would ask that there are vegan and dairy free alternatives seeing as though there is a significant percentage of the student population that is vegan or lactose-intolerant. 

  Our response:

  Thank you for your tell us now for us to sell ice cream.  This is something that we are looking into and are looking to source a freezer from our suppliers in the next couple of weeks. We will of course stock vegan products within this as standard as well. 

• REF: 66-2302-9127107 - Meals Timetable

  Your comment: It would be great if there was a timetable of what the Value Meal food on what days a few weeks in advance. Putting it in the food hall and onto the website so that students can make an informed decision rather than having to wait to see what the meal is on the day.

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback regarding the £2.50 Value Food option offered in the Food Hall daily. For us to be able to offer such amazing value hot meals, the chefs need to use whatever ingredients are best value at the time and as such the menu is decided on the day and cooked fresh for you to enjoy. As such we regrettably cannot publish the menu in advance.
  The standard menus are still advertised and can be found at:- https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/hospitality/thefoodhallweeklymenus/  

 22/23 Semester 2

• REF: 66-2211-8193902 - IBERbach Cafe: More Vegan Options

  Your comment: More vegan food options (especially in Ibers cafe)

  Our response:

  Thank you for feedback regarding the range of Vegan food available. Our full range can be found listed at: https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/hospitality/vegan-options/ 

  However we do constantly review the options available which is influenced by customer demand as well as market availability and operational limitations. You specifically mention IBERbach, where we do have a range of vegan sandwiches, soups, cakes and drinks. We will look again at this to see if the choice can be expanded. However as this is a small café where most of the items come pre-packaged, we are limited to what can be purchased. We thank you for your comments and please do let us know if you would like to meet to discuss this in more detail with us.

• REF: 66-2209-4136828 - Gluten Free Beer

  Your comment: Please can the SU get gluten free beer in the bar? Thanks!

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback concerning gluten free beer. We will get a stock of this product ordered and it should be in Tuesday for you to try. Please let the SU bar staff know what you think of it once you have sampled the beer!

 21/22 Semester 2

• REF:66-2207-4415408 - Thanks to kind staff at campus food and retail outlets

  Your comment: Thank you so much to the lovely hospitality staff, particularly those in the Piazza caffi and the SU shop for being so friendly and kind to their customers. The seagulls have been vicious recently as more people sit outside in the warm weather to have lunch. It's surprisingly upsetting to be attacked by a gull and the staff in these outlets have been wonderful, warning people about the risks beforehand and showing genuine concern in the aftermath. Thank you to them for their fantastic customer service :)

  Our response:

  Can I firstly thank you for taking the time to write your very kind words.  The Piazza Café is Managed by Sarah Hughes and her team from the Arts Centre, whilst the staff in the SU shop is managed by Helen, with Sian as her manager. So it is to them and their staff that I pass on your thanks. We had hoped that the Pandemic would have one benefit of stopping the Seagulls habit of ‘mugging’ unsuspecting people of their lunch. However who knew they were so patient and so keen to return to their bad habits. 

  I would like to echo your sentiments that the kindness and compassion given by these staff is an inspiration to us all to how we deal with people. 

• REF:66-2205-2411514 - Vegan and vegetarian options

  Your comment: There are not enough vegetarian/vegan options in TaMed Bach, Chef’s Table in the Food Hall and the SU shop. A couple of my friends who are vegetarian only seem to be able to choose from one or two different sandwiches/meals.

  Our response:

  Thank you for your Tell Us Now.

  Tamed Da Chef’s Table always has 4 main courses each full service, of which one is vegan and one is vegetarian.

  For TaMed bach coffee shop we serve a large selection of hot rolls or pasties, 50% of which are vegetarian and vegan. For example there are vegan sausage rolls, assorted vegetarian and vegan breakfast rolls for example egg and hash brown or Quorn Sausage and egg Muffin. We also have Vegan spinach, feta, butternut squash pasty, Meatless farm plant based peppered steak, Proper Cornish Vegan Pasty, Vegetarian Pizza roll to name but a few. We also have jacket potatoes and Ramen (noodle) dishes that are both vegan and vegetarian options. We also have the soup of the day which is always a vegan soup.

  We also serve a variety of sandwiches and wraps that are brought in and these are ordered in the ratios of 50/50 vegetarian/ vegan to meat fillings.

  In the SU Shop we again have a range of hot hold items that are always put out as 50% vegetarian. This includes a hot meat roll, which will then have the option of the vegetarian filling as well. We also serve a selection of vegetarian and vegan sandwiches and rolls.

  As well as this we have the menu that is available to order via Nosh Da, which contains numerous vegan and vegetarian options, which can be ordered in the Food Hall or for delivery to you on campus. https://vinestudent.io/outlets/nosh-da

  Again 50% of the menu is vegetarian or Vegan.

  For further information please make yourself and your colleagues known to a member of staff so that they can be talked through the vegetarian and vegan options available to them on the day.

• REF:66-2203-1339617 - Menu changes at Nosh Da

  Your comment: Hello. I am writing about the change of menu at Nosh Da. There used to be a vegetarian katsu curry option that was the price of a value meal, £5.75. this has now come off the menu and has been replaced with a 'build your meal'. You can essentially build a katsu curry but it is £7.45, so you're basically paying £2 more for nothing extra? I'm wondering if the kastu curry can be put on along side the ramen/value meal choices as it was a great fresh, healthy vegetarian choice. Thanks.

  Our response:

  Thank you for your Tell us now regarding the Katsu Curry option from Nosh Da.

  In January we amended the Nosh Da menu to be a build your own main course option, which allows you to choose your protein, carbohydrate and sauce and then a side dish to go with that as well. This was due to us wanting to promote a healthy and balanced meal option for our students, so you now have either vegetables or salad included as an option to go with your meal. Therefore the additional £1.70 (£5.75 was the selling price and is now £7.45 for the build your own main) is to cover the cost of the extra dish to go with your choice of main course.

  We thank you for your kind comments about the Ramen and the value meal and we shall talk to the chef to put on the Katsu curry as an option for the value meal at lunch time for the main counter.

• REF:66-2203-1116717 - Tamed Da opening times

  Your comment: Tamed is scheduled to open at 0800, but they always forget to actually unlock the door. As such, it often doesn't open until much later (when someone realises).

  Our response:

  Thank you for your Tell us Now. Tamed Da is due to open at 8:30 every day, as advertised on our web pages:- https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/hospitality/opening-hours/#food-hall

  We apologise for any confusion regarding this, however we do ask the staff to open the doors as soon as they can so we are often open before this time.

  I hope this clarifies this for you.

• REF:66-2201-9875019 - Breakfast in Tamed Da

  Your comment: Please can Ta Med start doing breakfast again? Even the ability to buy some toast would be good as there is nowhere on campus now with this facility.

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback regarding breakfast provision.

  We do offer a range of breakfast baps & items from Tamed Bach. We will ensure there is clear signage highlighting these for customers and add bagels and toast. Once the majority of students return to campus at the end of January, we will look at renewing the breakfast offer in Tamed Da too.

  Thanks again for your feedback

• REF:66-2201-4513911 - Price increase at Nosh da

  Your comment: Nosh da this academic year has gone terribly and is being really badly run, and not run with the best interests of students in mind. Things are being jacked up in price for no reason (£7 for a box of some freezer chips and a small bit of lasagne?!), they're taking very popular items off the menu to force students to buy more expensive combinations of the same food (Chicken and chips boxes - removed and getting both items separately is more expensive). The ways of contacting them on their social media pages for example are less friendly than they used to be and now never helpful. The person who's overseen all of this is likely the one responsible, whoever that is, and should be told they are running this for students and not try try and rake in as much excess greedy profit as they can.

  Our response:

  Thanks for your feedback regarding the Nosh Da service. We have added many new items to the Nosh menu for this term which has resulted in a very extensive choice. However, as a result of yours and several other bits of feedback we will be bringing back several of the ‘old’ Nosh menu items including some box meals and popcorn chicken to give you an even wider selection of delicious meals delivered to your door! This will take effect from Friday so please look out for the additions. We will also be reducing the price of the Lasagne meal to its pre-Xmas level of £5.75 - this had been put up to reflect increases in the cost of several ingredients but we will absorb these extra costs. We hope to see you soon

   

 21/22 Semester 1

• REF:66-2110-2306719 - Breakfast menu at the Union

  Your comment: The SU should defo have a breakfast menu and lunchtime. breakfast could have bacon sandwiches, sausages sandwiches, pancakes etc. and the lunch menu could have wraps and jacket potatoes. I don't really fancy a full 9 inch pizza for lunch. As well as this, expand their tea menu with cheesy chips, maybe a variety of sauces for your burgers etc.

  Our response:

  Thank you for your tell us now regarding the menu in the Bar that the Union. I would ask you to note that a full range of breakfast items are available from the Student Shop from 8:30 . this includes bacon and baps and a selection of vegan and vegetarian items as well. I am afraid that we are unable to serve chips from behind the bar, as there is not the extraction for any frying equipment. We have therefore amended the menu to what we can provide within the space, as well as what is most popular with students. We therefore offer a range of burgers, wraps and pizzas from 12 to 8.30 every day. We offer Jacket potatoes all day in the Food Hall, Penbryn as well. The tea menu in the bar is the full range of Tazo teas that are part of the Starbucks range, which includes a large selection of herbal fruit teas as well. We thank you for your comments and look forward to seeing you again in the Bar at the Union.

• REF:66-2110-3340007 - Gluten free options

  Your comment: I have Coeliac's disease and have come up to campus for a day of lectures to realise there are very few gluten free options. I am on campus all day, bringing my own food isn't always an option (today it wasn't) and I have been to the IBERS Cafe & the Student Union's shop, neither of which had any options for me for a lunch in between lectures other than a bag of crisps. Pre-COVID I could always find a wrap or a sandwich and I understand there are supply issues and you cannot cater for everybody - but there are many students that cannot eat gluten due to health issues (IE Coeliac's where ingesting gluten can have serious consequences). The Art Centre have some but it isn't really suitable day-to-day (IE expenses and options) and the menu is very unclear as to what actually is gluten free. There is an abundance of vegan and dairy free options which is great, but no gluten free/healthy gluten free (I know NoshDa do chips and pizza gluten free but again, isn't ideal). Avoiding gluten is not a fad diet, I feel students like me should not have to choose between staying on campus or going home to eat - especially when there have been options for us in the past.

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback. We are very sorry you experienced problems obtaining Gluten Free options last week. We were experiencing supply chain issues with our normal sandwich range but these should be back in stock this week in the Students’ Union Shop and Iberbach café. There are however various other gluten free options available at the shop, Soup, Salads, Rice Pots etc. The Food Hall/Tamed Da offers a variety of Gluten Free options, via Nosh Da, sandwiches (subject to delivery) and also through the hot counter booth (Chefs counter and street food) , both Meat and Vegetarian dishes. I can confirm that out of the dishes produced on the counter daily, there is a minimum of one gluten free dish All roasts are made with Gluten Free gravies/sauces and we also have dishes which are adaptable to meet their needs. Nosh Da does offer gluten free pizzas, wraps, boxed meal options which can modified when placing an order. I hope this answers your query and you are able to find the GF options you would like.

• REF:66-2110-2826405 - Recyclable cups

  Your comment: I think it's not okay that the starbucks in the SU is giving out plastic cups. It should all be paper and biodegradable

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback concerning the cups in Starbucks in the Students’ union. Unfortunately a viable 100% paper cup has yet to be invented although Starbucks are investing billions of dollars into research on this topic. The hot cups supplied are all plastic coated and cold cups are made of recycled plastic and are 100% recyclable. As a ‘We proudly Serve’ Starbucks franchise we have to use the cups supplied by them. However, Starbucks and the University are committed to reducing the volume of waste produced. During 2020 all plastic straws were eliminated and the strawless lid has been introduced which we now stock. The University is also committed to responsible waste management and SB plastic lids and paper sleeves are recycled. We also discourage the use of the single use cups by added a ‘20p plastic tax’ (although bring your own cups was stopped during covid). There was also the opportunity for all students to get a free Eco Cup by completing the Map Challenge during Freshers.

• REF:66-2109-8778723 - Food prices in Tamed Da

  Your comment: while nice the food was steep in price over £7 for a bowl of beef curry

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback about food prices in Tamed da. We are glad that you enjoyed the food. You are right to point out that prices should be displayed and we have corrected that. As for prices themselves, we have a range of main course options in Tamed – Chef’s Table - £7.80 Street Food - £6.80 (we have managed to reduce this following your comments) Ramen - £5.50 (from Tamed Bach) Nosh – from £3.95 – 7.95 All these are subject to student and staff discounts (10% and 5% respectively). We have been hit by large increases recently in the cost of food due to Brexit and Covid (see attached report for details) - we have worked hard to minimise these to our customers but regrettably have had to increase some. For comparison the Chef’s table main meals have increased from £7.50 last year to £7.80 this year which is a 4% increase. These prices still compare well with the Arts Centre (£8.95) and elsewhere off campus. Thanks again for your valued input.

• REF:66-2109-1264201 - Hot drink prices on campus

  Your comment: Aber is a fantastic uni in a beautiful setting, it attracts many environmentally conscious students and staff alike. In order to enable students to make more environmentally conscious choices why does the university still put a surcharge for milk alternatives? Especially when the cost of ‘milk’ is already accounted for in the price of the drink. Most outlets seem to be around the 30p mark, but the worse I have seen is the Arts Centre charging 50p. Surely the cost of the milk alternatives do not equate to that amount, when some part of the original cost accounts for milk, there must still be room for profit charging the same for everyone. Is it not possible to rise the standard price of hot drinks across campus by a few pence to account for this difference and remove this unnecessary surcharge?

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback. Coffee prices at the university are based on the pricing policy of local and national coffee brands and reflect the cost of the ingredients used in each drink. As such milk is an additional product to the coffee shot(s) itself rather than an alternative as you suggest, and is not already accounted for in the cost of the drink. It would seem unfair to charge those having black coffee for something they are not getting in order to subsidise the price of a coffee that includes milk.

 20/21 Semester 2

• REF:66-2102-5959322- Food and drink on campus

  Your comment: I feel the provision of food and drink on campus is lacking over the pandemic. While students are discouraged to be on campus, there are still many people on campus, staff, postgrads, students booking the library. But food and drink facilities are closed. The piazza was open, but now isn't. Nosh da is only open from 2pm. With research work having various timed aspects, flexibility in when to be able to access services is needed. The vending machines are also empty (EL building e.g). 

  Our response:

  All catering sites are now open again for take away services following the lifting of Welsh Government restrictions. We will continue to follow the Governments guidance. 

 20/21 Semester 1

• REF:66-2011-6496626 - Drink prices in the Students' Union

  Your comment: Drink prices in the SU, if brought down more people would go! It’s better selling lots of product for a small margin than nothing trying to get a big margin!

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback. We set our prices for drinks etc in the SU bar each summer for the next academic year based on a number of factors including product cost, comparisons with bars in town and other universities, and the need to make enough profit margin to pay the staff’s Real Living Wage costs. That said we have run various discounted price offers to help mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and have been very encouraged by the increase in use of the bar since these were introduced. We are currently looking at new offers for January to continue to make our prices attractive to students and keep the bar busy.

• REF:66-2010-7176422 - Catering for different dietary needs

  Your comment: The cafe on the first floor of the arts centre had a brilliant vegetable soup that was gluten and dairy free, and an absolutely amazing gluten free dairy free brownie/chocolate cake. I was so pleased they could cater! It would however be nice for them to have gluten free bread to go with the soup. But in general, more gluten and dairy free options would be greatly appreciated around campus, especially on Nosh Da as very often, these two allergies /intolerances go hand in hand. But I am so grateful for the wonderful service I received in the arts centre!!!! More options around campus please in case there is no more soup left!!! Thanks :) 

  Our response:

  Thank you for your comments about gluten and dairy free options to eat on campus. For Nosh Da all the burgers are gluten free and available with a vegan cheese option (where appropriate) The following are also GF & Vegan - Mushroom & Leek pie, Tofu Rice Box, Sweet Potato & Chickpea Rice Box, many of the Salad Boxes and Side Orders, Margherita and All Veggie Pizzas (specify GF pizza base at time of ordering). There are various other GF & Vegan options at the smaller cafes around the campus if you ask. All chips/curly fries on campus are gluten free. Hope this helps!

   

• REF:66-2010-3893207 - Nosh Da delivery charges

  Your comment: Nosh Da minimum delivery used to be £5 last year in term time, but is still £7.50 after it was changed after march last year when everyone went home, is it able to be changed back? It is much more feasible for one person to have a meal for themselves and not need someone else to add something to the order/add something that will go to waste at £5 instead of £7.50, and that may be useful for many students in the current situation if they need to self isolate etc. 

  Our response:

  Thank you for your feedback and for using the Nosh Da delivery service. We are pleased to be able to reduce the minimum order to £5 from today – I hope this sorts your issue! 

   

19/20 Semester 1

• REF:66-1910-2029715 - Vending machine options

  Your comment: Healthier & vegan options in the vending machines on campus 

  Our response:

  We are currently out to tender for new vending machines and will consider the range of vegan and healthy options as part of this process. This will in part depend upon the volume of requests for any one location to ensure there is a business need for the service.