Following my investigation on canteen prices last week (which can be found in the Flame archives), I wondered to myself: what is J&J, anyway? A quick internet search of “J&J Food Service” gave me results on various catering services, food delivery in Britain, shops all over Asia, the US, Europe… at first, I simply thought that J&J was a popular name for food services. but after digging deeper through defunct websites and unkempt Facebook pages, I finally realized: UNIS’s own canteen is part of something bigger than what most students seem to know. So naturally, I took it to my classmates.

I took this new found information to my mates, and found (unsurprisingly) that most people didn’t know of J&J’s widespread coverage. One anonymous student even said that J&J is a “one hit wonder”, thinking its only client being UNIS and the entire livelihood of the company depends on our fickle stomachs. Similarly, another anonymous student stated clearly that “J&J food only serves UNIS” – an unfortunate misconception that is probably based off of J&J’s relatively minimal branding, and a lack of online presence.

Whether it is a shame on our student body for not researching on our food provider, or a shame on J&J for their abysmal marketing strategy, this article is here to clear the confusion up and provide the utmost truth to the multinational corporation known officially as J&J Food Service Co., Ltd.: the company that serves schools, businesses, hospitals all over the world, based in Bangkok since 1993.

From a Google search, you will be confused: there are two, three different companies all with the name J&J. There is J&J Snack Foods, massive US corporation with products like the SuperPretzel and the Icee. There is the Britain-based J&J Food Service similar to the likes of Walmart, only smaller. And then there is our own J&J Food Service (which even has their own Facebook page). The same company that serves us our food also serves in international schools across Asia, as well as other canteens in the region. They even serve at the Mahidol University in Bangkok, for over 20,000 students.

So, as you can see, our food provider isn’t so unreliable as some people might think. In fact, they are hailed across Asia for their world-class service and beautiful cafeteria renovations – if you were here before the 2009-2010 school year, you’d know that J&J did indeed come with the wonderful renovations that now emblazons our cafeteria with green and yellow, with fancy lighting and pictures of food that entices us to buy their meals, even if they aren’t actually real products.

So, if you happen to find yourself sitting in the canteen sometime, admiring the world-class restaurant atmosphere in the air-conditioned coolness with your friends, remember that we’re all lucky to have J&J as our food provider, just as students across Asia are enjoying the same high-standard services that our own J&J Food Services Limited provides.