UniCafe’s path to the present day
Today, UniCafe provides lunches in its 18 cafeterias, as well as offers catering services in its four banquet halls. UniCafe is a responsible employer, providing jobs for nearly 200 employees.
1953: student dining services launched 
The Student Union of the University of Helsinki’s dining services got their start in 1953 at the Domus Academica cafeteria. There was a clear need for the student union and students to have their own cafeteria, and the requirements were simple: members should be offered good-quality lunches at reasonable prices. In those days, the organization Ylioppilastuki ry was in charge of running the food services.
A key idea in the postwar years was for students to play an active role in managing their own affairs. The establishment of the cafeteria was significantly influenced by students’ limited funds and the lack of reasonably priced dining establishments in Helsinki.
The 1960s: Dining services of Ylioppilastuki expand into a chain
A decade later, in 1964, the Porthania cafeteria at the University of Helsinki was taken over by Ylioppilastuki. This was the first step toward expanding the dining services into a chain of establishments. In 1969, Ylioppilastuki’s dining services expanded in one fell swoop to include 13 cafés on university campuses when the Nissen coffeehouse chain, owned by the Paulig coffee company, offered its cafés for sale to Ylioppilastuki at a good price. That transaction confirmed Ylioppilastuki as the provider of student dining services at the University of Helsinki.
The 1970s: Finnish government supports student dining
By providing direct subsidies for student dining services, the Finnish government aimed to guide students’ eating habits in the desired direction according to public health policy. This was also a message that university studies were starting to be viewed as more as a kind of work for which the government should provide some support (cf. student lunches and subsidized employee lunches). As a result of this support, the number of customers in the cafeterias increased, and UniCafe consolidated its position as the students’ own dining service provider.
1987: HYY Group takes control of student union’s business operations
In the 1980s, the Student Union of the University of Helsinki’s business operations consisted of a number of small operators and subsidiary companies, which it was thought should be combined into a larger, unified group. The establishment of the HYY Group meant an organizational change in these operations, but at the same time it also signaled an increase in professionalism to customers and suppliers. Even today, the business operations of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki are run via the HYY Group, whose mission is to provide financial support for the student union’s activities and to offer services that improve students’ wellbeing. UniCafe is part of the HYY Group.
The 1990s: The UniCafe era
The UniCafe name was adopted as a trade name by Ylioppilastuki in 1986. In 1994 the name and the dining service business were spun off into a separate company, Oy UniCafe Ab. The logo used by UniCafe at that time was designed at the College of Applied Arts in Helsinki.
2008: Oy UniCafe Ab acquires the operations of the Old Student House
On January 1, 2008, Oy UniCafe Ab purchased the operations of HYY Group’s other food service business, the Old Student House (Oy Vanha Ylioppilastalo Ab). As a result of the merger of these businesses, the banqueting facilities at the Old Student House now support UniCafe’s main mission as well – namely, student dining services. The 140-year-old Old Student House serves as the flagship of UniCafe’s banquet facilities, bringing professional skill and experience in hosting festive celebrations in a historic cultural setting to all its customers.