Monique Kuyck, head of Services at DIZ, admits that an interim price rise is exceptional, but inescapable. “Albron and Sodexho are facing steep price increases in dairy and grain products of over ten percent, which allows them contractually to increase the prices between times. In supermarkets now everybody can see the prices of certain products go up considerably as well”, explains Kuyck.

Seperate
“DIZ has decided to up the price of the whole range by two percent, rather than several separate products. If we had chosen the latter option, a cup of milk would have become seventeen percent more expensive, for instance.”
According to Kuyck this is a justified price increase, then, which other caterers in the Netherlands are carrying through also. “Two percent means we are restraining ourselves, for I also know of universities and hospitals that have carried through price rises of twelve to thirteen percent.”

Market
At this moment Kuyck is unable to say whether steeper price increases will follow in September. In view of the pressure that is exercised on the market for dairy and grain products worldwide she does find it obvious that prices may rise again by then. Kuyck: “I cannot make any concrete statement on this for now, as you just do not know how things will develop. In any case we follow the CBS index figures every year. Still, I do want to emphasize that the refectory prices charged at the TU/e are nationally still within the lowest price ranges”./.