Budapest Strict and Medium Regime Prison spent HUF 333 million on refurbishing its kitchen. At the opening ceremony on March 22, 2016, Lt Gen András Csóti, Director General of Hungarian Prison Service announced that now, with the exception of the two PPP institutions, every Hungarian correctional institution operates its own kitchen.
The Government requires the Prison Administration to primarily use food produced by prisoners to feed prisoners, and to employ as many prisoners as possible. This investment serves both purposes, he said. The new industrial kitchen has a total floor area of 1250 square meters, employs around 50 prisoners, and feeds the prisoners, the staff, and the Forensic Mental Hospital (IMEI).
Brig Gábor Széles, Governor of Budapest Strict and Medium Regime Prison explained that construction had begun in February 2015 by tearing down the old kitchen building, where 48 prisoners had worked 5648 hours. He reminded that, although construction work only began later, the whole of 2015 had been spent in preparation: drafting new rules, allocating staff and resources, designing menus.
Construction work was undertaken by the winner of a public procurement contract worth HUF 270 million, financed by Prison Service Headquarters. Once the kitchen acquired the necessary licenses, the kitchen equipment, worth HUF 55 million, was tested in several trials. The final balance of the reconstruction came to HUF 333 million. The new kitchen can cater to 40 different diets, and uses about 220 thousand kg of bread, 170 thousand bread rolls, 60 thousand kg of pork, 24 thousand kg of chicken, 120 thousand kg of potatoes, and 50 thousand liters of milk a year.
As a result, we have a modern industrial kitchen in place, which uses internally produced foodstuffs and employs prisoners in catering. Experience so far has shown that the kitchen can provide varied and healthy meals on an ongoing basis, and cater to various special diets.
