Basel, Lucern and Zurich launch Food2050’s MenuCheck to help restaurants offer more sustainable menus

The cantons of Basel-Stadt, Lucerne, and Zurich, together with the City of Zurich, have jointly launched the free online tool MenuCheck, powered by Valley partner Food2050. The service is aimed at restaurants and foodservice businesses in the participating cantons and helps them analyse and optimise their menus with regard to climate impact in a simple and evidence-based way.

Making sustainability easy to measure

MenuCheck allows foodservice businesses to assess their dishes based on their menu. The tool identifies menu items and matches them to typical reference recipes. Using scientifically validated data, it visualises the climate friendliness of each dish, particularly its greenhouse gas emissions, through a simple traffic light system.

The underlying methodology calculates the climate impact of dishes while taking daily calorie and nutritional requirements into account. It draws on extensive standardised data covering the environmental impact of ingredients, supply chains, and production processes.

Practical benefits for the hospitality sector

MenuCheck provides businesses with a practical tool that can be used directly in day-to-day operations:

• Fast analysis: Results are delivered by email within just a few minutes.
• Concrete optimisation opportunities: Dishes can be compared, helping businesses improve the overall climate friendliness of their menu offering.
• Competitive advantage: MenuCheck helps businesses create more climate-friendly menus that respond to growing consumer demand for sustainable dining options.

The goal is to make sustainable menu planning a natural part of kitchen operations rather than an additional task.

Easy to use and free of charge

MenuCheck has been deliberately designed as a low-barrier solution. The tool is available free of charge in participating cantons and requires no technical integration. Restaurants can start using it online immediately and receive analyses straight away.

By making the tool easy to access, the initiative aims to reach as many businesses as possible and empower them to actively support the transition to a more sustainable food system.

Restaurants are encouraged to use MenuCheck whenever they revise their menus in order to improve the climate friendliness of their dishes.

MenuCheck was developed by the Zurich-based startup FOOD2050, which has extensive experience in analysing menus in institutional and catering settings. The environmental impact data is provided by Eaternity, an established provider of food sustainability assessment solutions.

MenuCheck is currently available in the cantons of Basel-Stadt (on a trial basis until the end of 2026), Lucerne, and Zurich but the team is  actively looking to expand to other cantons. 

Find out more: https://www.menu-check.ch/

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