Electrolux Professional continues to partner with 100% Circular, a future-oriented sustainability award- and innovation program that aims to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy and a sustainable restaurant industry, initiated by White Guide Sweden.
The innovation programme covers the whole of Sweden and, during the autumn, restaurants, bars, bakeries and cafés in the hospitality industry were invited to send their proposals of new ideas for the circular economy. All the proposed projects concern sustainable and circular thinking in restaurants – but each have their own focus, such as packaging design, business models, urban cultivation, food waste and digitalization.
Among the 30 entries from various parts of Sweden, the 100% Circular jury selected the three winning projects that they judged best fitted the programme’s criteria, with their focus on various aspects of sustainability and the circular economy – food waste transformed into interior design, urban farmers delivering their harvest directly to restaurants and frozen ready-made meals made from saved ingredients.
To win the award and benefit from the innovation support, the project must be relevant to the global sustainability goals and be both scalable and measurable. It should also have great potential for impact – thereby spreading the influence of the project to the rest of the restaurant industry as well as to consumers throughout the global food system.
“The restaurant industry plays an important role in the transition towards a more sustainable future. We partner with White Guide 100% Circular with the ambition to inspire changes and to contribute towards solving the global food challenges together, and by starting with Sweden do we hope the project will inspire more countries” – says Jennie Walther, Nordic Marketing and member of the advisory board.
“This year’s winners can all accelerate the transition towards a circular economy, not least by serving as a source of inspiration for similar circular models” – says Viktoria Roos, Open Innovation Leader at Electrolux Professional and member of the jury.
The winning proposals are rewarded with innovation support by experts from research and academia, and the first ideas will be realized in the spring of 2022. Electrolux Professional is participating in the development of the program and with expertise in the program’s Jury.
The winners of the 100% Circular Award 2021 are:
From food waste to interior design – Carolina Härdh, interior designer, Gothenburg
By digging where she stands, on the Swedish west coast, Carolina Härdh takes leftovers from restaurants and transforms them into interior details for the same industry. Through a relatively simple process oyster shells, mussel shells and fish bones are transformed into a durable material that in various forms and functions contributes to the guests’ overall experience, such as furniture, tables, and beautiful tactile surfaces. The concept is already realized on a small scale, but the process has the potential to be refined, streamlined, and scaled up. It can also serve as a source of inspiration for similar circular models that link other types of food waste and leftover materials from restaurants to other industries and businesses.
Urban farming of vegetables for restaurants – Klara Hansson, project manager at Stadsnära odling at the Real Estate Office within the City of Gothenburg
The small-scale, organic model farm at Angered’s farm in Gothenburg has been run successfully for three years by city farmer Klara Hansson, with the aim of producing food and offering education. The farm is run according to the principles of market gardening, cultivating a piece of marginal land owned by the municipality. It is a model for growing in and near the city in unused areas, increasing the city’s degree of self-sufficiency and reducing transport. There are great opportunities to expand the project, as unused land areas in urban environments are common. The project is meticulously documented and can thus function as a model for similar projects in other parts of Sweden. The documentation represents a unique source of knowledge about how this type of farm can operate in the Swedish climate, labour market, food culture and market conditions. Calculations estimate the products’ possible sales channels, and what the financing looks like depending on the conditions.
Frozen ready-made meals made from food waste – Filip Lundin at Restaurant Sopköket, Stockholm
The vision is a product line for consumers with frozen ready-made meals made from rescued ingredients from the food trade. The product line has a well-defined market profile as well as comprehensive packaging, indicating the of origin of the ingredients. Thanks to many years of experience creating meals for restaurants and catering events, Sopköket is in a strong position to realize their vision. Thanks to Sopköket’s experience and research in the field, and the large potential supply of food waste, the product range could be scaled up to a large volume. In addition, a functioning and financially sustainable model would serve as inspiration for similar products.
The jury consisted of several of Sweden’s most innovative chefs and sustainability experts possessing deep knowledge of the circular economy and gastronomy. The jury has been supported by advisers and other experts in the circular economy, sustainable development and in other areas depending on the nature of the idea.
About 100% Circular Sustainability Prize and Innovation Programme
The 100% Circular Award was established in 2016 by White Guide and Stockholm Gas. The sustainability award is being developed into an innovation program in collaboration with Electrolux Professional and The Absolut Company together with representatives from the research and innovation sector like RISE – Research Institutes of Sweden, Ideon Innovation and Restaurangakademien.
For more information, please contact:
Jennie Walther, Nordic Marketing Manager , +46 70 343 83 12, jennie.walther@electroluxprofessional.com
Viktoria Roos, Open Innovation Leader, +39 338 654 41 56, viktoria.roos@electroluxprofessional.com