by Tim AßmannWelcome to the first edition of our Future of Food Tapas Series! This week’s focus is on thriving food startups and two major trends driving the scene: sustainability best practices and promoting cultural connections. 
View the original post by Veronica Fossa on our creative’s blog here.
Agar Plasticity Project by the AMAM Design Group
The AMAM Design Group – winners of this year’s LEXUS Design Award – aims to address one of the biggest pollution problems of our time: plastic waste. The team researches the use of seaweed-derived agar as an alternative to plastic packaging materials. Agar is extracted by first boiling red algae and then dehydrating the mixture, which then can be frozen or compressed. Agar products can be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly way, serve to improve the water retention property of soil, and do not harm marine life.
The CowGum From The Slagerij de Hamvraag
The CowGum, a limited edition line of meat-flavoured chewing gum, is a creative marketing strategy to draw attention to the opening of conceptual pop-up butchery Slagerij de Hamvraag. The butchery doesn’t sell meat but rather displays questions about meat to raise awareness about the excessive consumption of meat, which not only negatively impacts animals but also humans and the environment.
OLIO
OLIO is a free app which addresses the major issue of food waste by using a community approach to technology. It connects neighbours and local food businesses with each other so surplus food can be shared and not thrown away. Currently the app is only available in the UK and Ireland, but it is rapidly launching internationally.
Eat Your Spoon by Bakeys
Eco-friendly utensils company Bakeys merges the two trends: It addresses a cultural challenge in an environmentally-friendly way. Every year, 120 billion of plastic cutlery are discarded in India. With the mission of starting a cultural revolution aimed at combating cutlery waste, Bakeys launched the world’s first edible cutlery line, “Eat your Spoon”, made of three flours: rice, wheat, and sorghum. The line is fully vegan, preservative free, trans fat free, dairy free, and fair trade.
PlateCulture
PlateCulture is a web-based platform that aims to increase cultural awareness and interaction by connecting people who love cooking and hosting dinners with others who enjoy eating authentic home-cooked meals. Since its inception in 2013, the community has expanded to 25 countries, becoming especially popular in Asia, and has been dubbed the “AirBnB of food”.
Foodscape
Foodscape goes one step further by bringing together a community from the very beginning: It allows people to grow and share food in local communities. It so simultaneously brings the farm ever closer to the table through homegrown food and creates communities that work and eat together.
Want to join the future of food and beverages initiative? We’re offering two unique ways to partner with us: Until September, you can solve your own creative future of food challenge privately, or you can join our Future of Food innovation journey on September 15 & 16th. Contact us for more details!
Join us at the Future of Food conference in Berlin on October 28, 2016 to explore exciting food and beverages industry innovations and developments! Buy Tickets here.
