Trinity Hall Graduate Kitchen Contracts are mysteriously complex, but we’ll do our best to clarify them. In case you’d rather just skip to the final prices of meals (with/without Kitchen Contracts and late diet changes) as they will eventually appear on your college bill, you may find that information here.
Kitchen prices (as advertised on the board in the cafeteria, the cash register when you pay there, or HalBook) do not reflect the full price of a meal. By default you will be charged an additional 60% surcharge on top of that amount. If however you agree to buy a kitchen contract then you will only pay a 30% surcharge on any food purchased within the contract amount (and 60% on any amount above your contract). The drawback is that you commit to the full value of your kitchen contract regardless of whether you actually spend that amount. For example, if you opt for a £50 contract and purchase £50 worth of food, you will be billed £65 (£50 + 30% of £50). This will make you a saving of £15 compared to purchasing the same amount of food but were not on a contract. On the other hand, if you opt for a £50 contract and purchase only £10 worth of food during the contract period you will pay £53 (£50 + 30% of £10). So you should be sure that you will utilize your contract otherwise you will find yourselves being seriously out of pocket! In general purchasing £x worth of food within the contract period of a £y contract (with x≤y) you will be billed £y + 30% of £x.
If you went to every weekly Grad Hall then you would certainly surpass the break-even amount. Whether it is worth spending more or less to get a better deal is a philosophical and perhaps ethical conundrum which likely expresses itself in many facets of your life, and which is most likely unanswerable by recourse to linear algebra alone.
If you want a Kitchen Contract, you must request it via email to: kitchen-contract@trinhall.cam.ac.uk. This is the only way a new contract, subsequent top-ups, reductions and cancellations of existing contracts can be made, as an audit trail must be kept.
The contract system will operate quarterly, the first quarter being 1st October to 31st December. The minimum contract amount is £50, there is no maximum.
Contracts must be requested by the 15th of the first month of the quarter: 15 October for Michaelmas Term; 15 January for Lent Term; 15 April for Easter Term.
Top-ups can be requested until the 15th of the last month in the quarter: 15 December for Michaelmas Term; 15 March for Lent Term; 15 June for Easter Term.
The minimum top up is £25 but any increment of this amount is acceptable.
Your initial contract amount plus any top ups requested during that quarter will automatically generate your initial contract amount for the following quarter. i.e. Michaelmas Term - initial contract £50 plus £25 top up request, your contract for Lent Term would be initially set at £75. Any funds remaining on your contract from one quarter to the next are not carried forward. i.e. £75 contract, £63 expended, the remaining £12 will not be refunded or carried forward.
However, should you wish to cancel or reduce your contract you may do so providing that you request this via email by the 15th of the first month of the quarter (see above). Please note that contracts will not be offered during the Long Vacation Term because the only meals available are special set dinners and the total charge for this type of meal is applied to your account weekly inclusive of surcharges.
When you request a contract or top up you will receive an automated email message confirming your request has been received. Please note that all contracts will be canceled at the end of the academic year so that graduate students will start with no contract at the start of Michaelmas Term.
Whilst complicated, the scheme does allow you to make savings but does require you to keep checking your total and not topping up to more than you are likely to spend. And believe it or not, this system was actually hard-won by a past MCR Committee, as it saves us all being committed to paying a fixed kitchen charge (as all Trinity Hall undergraduates and many graduates at other colleges pay) and gives us a choice instead about whether or not we want to eat in College. The undergrads don’t have that choice, and are paying more than the price listed on the menu, as well.