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- The fischer company restaurant is tasty and healthy
When kitchen manager Franky Gissinger talks about his work, he has a smile on his face. He seems satisfied with what he has built together with his deputy Roland Zwirner and the entire team of the company restaurant based in the Northern Black Forest. Around 550 people eat his lunch dishes on regular working days. In addition, about 50 to 150 training guests join daily.
Regional comes first
“Most of the food we use daily comes from within a radius of no more than 30 kilometers,” says Franky Gissinger proudly. Flour, for example, for the weekly bread promotion, comes from a mill in the neighboring town of Altheim. Vinegars and oils come from Empfingen. And apples, which are freely available at the checkouts, come from company-owned orchard meadows. Game from the hunts around the Tumlingen location, in which the owner Prof. Klaus Fischer is involved, occasionally appears on the company restaurant’s menu. Pears and apples from the company’s own orchard and meat delivered from within a radius of no more than 50 kilometers are among the foods that come from further away. “Here we pay attention to high quality and good animal welfare conditions. That’s why we have expanded the radius,” says the head chef.
Preferably seasonal
It is therefore obvious that the seven chefs of the Tumlingen company restaurant mostly cook seasonally. This means, for example, many fresh fruits in summer, dishes with pumpkin in autumn, and many with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in winter. “We want to prove that seemingly simple things, which grow here locally and in their season, can be very good and diverse. Following the motto ‘Less is more’,” explains Franky Gissinger.
Seemingly simple things can be very good and diverse. True to the motto 'Less is more'
Resource-saving
fischer employees pay in their company restaurant using a cash register system where receipts, if needed, are digitally transmitted via QR code. This saves three rolls of paper per day. With a total of six cash registers in use and an average of 200 conference receipts per day, that adds up. The team led by Franky Gissinger also saves enormous resources when it comes to packaging. All food is delivered by the supplier in transparent, reusable boxes through an optimized process and goes directly into the cold storage, warehouse, or kitchen. This means nothing needs to be unpacked or repacked. This saves packaging waste and time. The company restaurant also has another resource-saving advantage: there is hardly any leftover food. “We place great importance on avoiding overproduction. We cook ‘just in time.’ We prefer a meal to be sold out rather than generating large leftovers,” says Franky Gissinger. And if more is cooked than eaten, creative dishes are made from the leftovers for the next day.
Conscious Nutrition
With all this, he, his team, and Prof. Fischer want to create an awareness that goes beyond everyday work life. That is why the fischer own education center (BiZ) regularly offers cooking courses. Here, employees can learn how to prepare sustainable food at home as well. And children of the workforce are also allowed to cook together with the kitchen team of the company restaurant twice a year. Initiatives such as the "Healthy Week" or "Cooking for the Climate" aim to raise awareness for sustainable enjoyment of food.
Outstanding Excellence
The work of the Tumlingen kitchen team is recognized: This year, the company restaurant belongs for the seventh time in a row to the best canteens in Germany and recently received four red stars for the first time from the Food & Health Initiative. This award is only given to top canteens and certifies an "outstanding concept with holistic implementation." The team is regularly supported by celebrity chef Harald Wohlfahrt, who prepares a gourmet dish monthly and coaches the kitchen staff. His message: "Really good food should be a basic need for everyone, not just for an elite circle."
Really good food should be a basic need for everyone, not just for an elite circle
Delicious and healthy
The food in the fischer company restaurant is very healthy. When cooking, the chefs pay attention to using little salt. They mainly use healthy fats, cold-pressed oils, no additives, and as few allergens as possible. "More and more guests have allergies. That is why we thicken our sauces, for example, with rice flour instead of gluten-containing flour," explains Franky Gissinger and continues: "We also strictly ensure with our suppliers that no flavor enhancers or other additives are used. We don’t need many spices anyway because everything is so fresh."
Good food for everyone
Franky Gissinger owes his ability to work so sustainably largely to the owner of the company, Prof. Klaus Fischer. The idea to invest in regional, seasonal, and healthy cuisine came from him. Because all of this has its price. And only a very small fraction of that is passed on to the employees. "We want to enable everyone here to have access to good food," says Franky Gissinger.
With our suppliers, we strictly ensure that no flavor enhancers or other additives are used. We don’t need many spices anyway because everything is so fresh
A Place of Encounter
The fischer company restaurant is after all more than just catering – it is a place of appreciation, exchange, and community. A place where it is experienced daily that people are at the center at fischer. For the employees at fischer, the good feeling remains that the delicious food in their company restaurant not only satisfies hunger but is also healthy and social. Franky Gissinger not only conjures a smile on his own face but also on the faces of his hungry guests every lunchtime.
An Overview of the fischer Company Restaurant
Franky Gissinger’s team consists of a total of seven chefs including himself, five kitchen assistants, and two service staff. They prepare around 550 dishes per day. In addition, there are 50 to 150 training guests daily, snacks such as rolls and muesli, as well as breakfast. At lunchtime, there are five different dishes every day, a salad buffet, two soups, four to five different desserts, homemade cakes, a vegetable counter, and ice cream in summer. On Thursdays and Fridays, the company restaurant bakes stone oven bread, which can be pre-ordered and picked up at the restaurant checkout on those days. Employees can also take home Maultaschen and Spätzle. Takeaway pizza, special events like barbecues in summer, or the game weeks, asparagus weeks, and Oktoberfest weeks complete the portfolio.
