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VW defends currywurst waiver in a canteen
A sausage with the inscription “Volkswagen Originalteil”. Photo: picture alliance / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The news of the Currywurst-Aus in a VW company restaurant in Wolfsburg burst into the summer slump last year. How was the canteen’s decision accepted in the first six months?
The decision-makers are convinced that not having the VW currywurst in a canteen at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg has paid off.
“The response from our guests is sensational and consistently positive – from the administrative area as well as from production,” said the head of VW gastronomy, Nils Potthast, the German Press Agency. Even without the canteen classic, some of the food on offer was sold out before closing time, Potthast reported almost six months after the decision.
The decision for a meat-free company restaurant at Europe’s largest car manufacturer caused a stir in the summer. In August, VW first announced internally that the canteen in the brand high-rise would be focusing on vegetarian and vegan cuisine after the company vacation and that fish would only be part of the offer from time to time. That meant the end for the currywurst there.
Above all, the reaction of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder about 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, there would have been no such thing,” Schröder wrote on LinkedIn at the time.
For many users of social platforms and numerous media, Schröder’s currywurst insertion was a hit in the summer slump. There were thousands of reactions and comments.
“It was clear from the outset that there was nothing wrong with the currywurst, which we will continue to offer in all other canteens at the plant,” said VW restaurateur Potthast. It’s just about more tasty alternatives. There are now and they would be well received. According to him, the employees in the kitchen are also 100 percent behind the concept.
Although currywurst production at Volkswagen has often exceeded the car sales of the core brand, the extent of the debate with the hashtag “#RettetdieCurrywurst” set by Schröder should have surprised internally as well. Because the company emphasized from the start that nobody at VW had to do without sausages, also because they were still available in the canteen a few meters away on the opposite side of the street.