Food2050’s Christian Kramer is using his unique sustainability system to raise awareness of the environmental impact of our meals. But he’s not stopping there. He’s also using what he’s learnt to develop 1.5 degree recipes. Shroomy is his first innovation – a climate-friendly sandwich that gives consumers a taste of the future.

Step into the culinary future

This week Zurich is taking a trip into the culinary future. The 10-day FOOD ZURICH Festival is providing an opportunity to explore the innovative food solutions that will reshape how we eat.

Amongst a host of booths and stands, you’ll find Christian Kramer, a restaurant industry veteran who is passionate about global food system transformation. His startup FOOD2050 is developing an integral sustainability system for the food service industry to digitally map recipe’s environmental impact based on their CO2e emissions in degrees Celsius. Following on from a promising pilot project earlier this year, he’s now ready to test out new ways to share his methodology – and the climate-friendly products it produces – with the general public.

In collaboration with Eaternity Institut, Christian and his team have set up a giant screen that visualizes the CO2e-footprint of the festival’s food stands and translates it into global warming potential in degrees Celsius.The project aims to raise awareness amongst attendees and drive a shift in their consumption behavior.

On the first day of the Festival, seven of Zurich’s 5 star hotels presented their indulgent but sustainable menus – and FOOD2050’s screen showed that that event had managed to keep its climate impact below Switzerland’s average consumption of 3°C. A few days later, the impact of the festival has fallen to 2.5°C and the team expects it to drop even further, based on the numbers they’ve seen coming through in the last few days.

1.5 degree recipes

But Christian is already thinking one step further. He wants to use the knowledge gained through FOOD2050 to develop environmentally friendly and tasty “1.5 degree recipes” – recipes that will keep the level of global warming below the 2°C set out in the Paris climate agreement.

In collaboration with the cooperative ZFV-Unternehmungen (ZFV), his new 1.5°FOOD brand has launched its very first innovation: the Shroomy. The climate-friendly sandwich is purely plant-based, with 98% of ingredients sourced from certified Swiss production and 2% from a Norwegian organic seaweed farm. The pressed oyster mushrooms, seasoned and fried like a steak, act as a juicy alternative to meat, are served with microgreens, organic seaweed, and rescued veggies in a spelt bun.

For Christian, the sandwich illustrates how food service partners can easily develop tasty and environmentally friendly bestsellers.

Next steps

Towards the end of September, FOOD2050 and ZFV-Unternehmungen will launch the second pilot operation at the University of Zurich. All meals served in the Irchel canteen will be evaluated and the results will be shared publicly on multiple screens throughout the university.

Once the data analysis provides a clear picture of where the biggest potential for reduced climate impact lies, 1.5°FOOD will work alongside partner organization Gastronomics to develop targeted recipes to bring down the measurements. The entire project will be supported by various communication measures that will help consumers and food service operators to make more sustainable food choices.

The team is now looking for funding to scale and is eager to connect with ecosystem actors with food innovations that help consumers to reduce their environmental footprint as well as companies interested in using their solution.

Connect with Christian on LinkedIn or drop by the booth at FOOD ZURICH Festival until September 17 to taste the Shroomy for yourself.

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