Step-by-step to your perfect event with the Catering Studio Event Planner

Together with the TAMK Catering Studio, the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab, a student team from Hochschule München and Tampere University of Applied Sciences designed a recommendation engine for the TAMK Catering Studio. The solution simplifies the process of organizing an event in Tampere University’s catering studio by guiding customers through all important steps of the catering planning process. In the end, the engine recommends suitable and sustainable catering options based on the customer’s preferences.

TAMK Catering Studio Event Planner: Catering recommendations example

Create memorable events at TAMK

The Catering Studio Event Planner helps customers to easily find the best catering services available to them by making recommendations tailored to their wants and needs – so everyone can experience a memorable event at TAMK Catering Studio. This way, there is no need for the customer to mail or call the catering studio anymore when planning an event at TAMK, saving precious time and effort. A simple step-by-step guide requests the most important information about the event, for example the number of guests, preferred date, and budget. In the end, the customer gets three personal catering recommendations – with the most sustainable one highlighted. Plan your event – and do good at the same time!

Happy customer, happy staff

The perfect event for your needs: That’s what the TAMK Catering Studio wants to offer to every single one of their customers. However, consulting every customer individually takes the catering studio staff quite some time – time that could be more effectively used for the event preparation itself. By offering the standardized step-by-step guide, the most important information about the event is clear from the beginning, so that the Catering Studio’s staff can then focus on the details that make the event unforgettable. The staff at TAMK Catering Studio is convinced: “The step-by-step recommendation engine really streamlines the booking process. It has been joyful and rewarding to follow along the team’s competence and their persevering effort for the given assignment. We are truly happy for this product that has been designed to correspond our exact needs. Vielen Dank!”, client Reetta Tuomikoski says about the student team’s innovation.

The interdisciplinary team consisting of Business Administration students from Hochschule München (Arthur Reschke, Maria Gutierrez Escoffie, Nicolas Angel, Saskia Kuzlik, Timon Leuchtmann) and Informatics students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Aki Helin, Daniel Bardo, Hilla Härkönen, Hilla Kähkölä, Riku Vesanto) is proud to offer a solution that simplifies the life of both the clients and their customers at the same time.

The interdisciplinary team from TAMK and HM: Maria Lorena Gutierrez Escoffie, Saskia Kuzlik, Timon Leuchtmann, Hilla Kähkölä, Aki Helin, Nicolas Angel, Daniel Bardo, Arthur Reschke, Hilla Hörkönen (from top left to bottom right).

About the Digital Innovation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab

This solution was designed in a joint project between the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab of Hochschule München in cooperation with Tampere University of Applied Sciences guided by the lecturers Prof. Dr. Holger Günzel, Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm, Hans-Jürgen Haak, and Anne-Mari Sainio. The Co-Innovation Lab offers students a virtual platform for learning how to work as a consulting team by creating temporary partnerships between companies, students, and lecturers.

For more information about the Catering Studio Event Planner, the Digital Transformation Lab or the Co-Innovation Lab, contact holger.guenzel@hm.edu or lars.brehm@hm.edu.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

“The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the private sector, students develop future-oriented solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.”

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

Autoren: Team Catering Studio

Conscious canteen food with EatGreener

In cooperation with Green Canteen and the Co-Innovation Lab, a newly conceptualized application EatGreener was launched. The application enables canteen guests to be more aware of the origin of their lunch. At the same time, collecting points with the purchase of Green Canteen products is possible.

EatGreener Prototype

Low willingness to buy regional organic food from canteen guests without further information

Green Canteen’s mission is to provide organic farmers with easier access to canteens and to make it easier for canteens to switch to regional products. Canteen patrons today need to find a balance between prices and regional foods when making a purchasing decision in the canteen. The results of a survey conducted with canteen patrons showed that only 9% of respondents would choose regional organic food. With the help of a simulation in which an organic farmer and his products were presented, 45% of the respondents were already willing to pay more money for a regional organic meal.

Creation of an informative website and incentive system for the purchase of regional organic food.

After these results, the vision was created to develop a website that provides customers with information on the origin of the products, the CO2 consumption made and the added value that these products provide in organic form. This will get the customer excited about regional organic products. The website is easily accessible via cell phone using a QR code displayed in the canteen. A further incentive to buy is created with a points system. With this, canteen guests receive a discounted vegetable or fruit basket from a cooperating organic farmer on site.

Eleven students from the fields of business administration and computer science at Munich University of Applied Sciences have tackled this challenge and developed a prototype for EatGreener.


This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:
The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the public sector, students develop forward-looking solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences: