The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Big Food Redesign Challenge, launched in 2023 to encourage food and drink firms to rethink their approach to product development, has reached its conclusion.
Developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Food Trust, the Challenge invited entrants to redesign existing items – or create entirely new ones – using circular economy principles that help to regenerate nature.
Following the 18-month process, some 141 products, submitted by 57 organisations across 12 countries, have completed the challenge, with participating firms including household names such as Nestlé, Waitrose, and Wildfarmed.
These innovations were launched at an event at Fortnum & Mason in London, and included burgers made from blended beef and seaweed; a range of ready meals designed to lower carbon impact; and a new take on the classic digestive biscuit, produced from upcycled apple pulp.
Circular economy
“Regenerating nature lies at the heart of the circular economy and is vital to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss,” commented Jonquil Hackenberg, chief executive of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “How we produce and consume food is one of the most powerful ways we can do that and the products in the Challenge have shown this is possible.
“By rethinking the ingredients and their production, participants demonstrated that through intentional design choices, we can produce food that helps nature to thrive – unlike today’s current food system which tends to make nature fit our needs.”
Several products that completed the Challenge are now going on sale in retailers such as Waitrose, Abel & Cole, Carrefour Brasil Group and Fortnum & Mason. In Waitrose, for example, some 25 products will go on sale in stores across England and Wales from 12 February.
Nature in Mind
To further support the initiative, the Foundation introduced a ‘Nature in Mind’ logo, which will be used to identify products selected as part of the challenge.
“A growing number of food businesses and retailers are recognising the importance of supporting sustainable farm practices,” added Patrick Holden, founder and CEO of the Sustainable Food Trust. “The more that we can do to drive demand for ingredients that support diverse, resilient and circular farming models, the easier the farming transition to more sustainable systems will be.” Read more here.
