catchfree has been named winner of the Igeho Rising Star Award 2025, announced yesterday by co-hosts Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley (SFNV) and Igeho. The decision followed a live pitch and Q&A session with an expert jury at the Igeho international hospitality and catering tradeshow. Along with the recognition, catchfree received a cash prize to help scale its solution.

catchfree: crafting seafood from plants to protect our oceans

catchfree crafts seafood products from plants, including mushroom protein and rice, using a minimal processing method developed over the past three years. Co-founders Eduard Müller and Severin Eder were inspired to develop their solution after discovering 90% of the world’s oceans are overfished.

Accepting the award, Co-founder Eduard Müller said, ‘We’re thrilled to have won the Igeho Rising Star 2025 Award – it’s a real testament to our hard work over the past few years. Winning this award will help us expand our reach to offer tasty, affordable tuna, salmon, fish fingers and fish bites alternatives in Germany and other international markets.’

Five exceptional finalists

Organisers SFNV and Igeho congratulated all finalists – Circunis, Foodflows, GoNina and Yumame Foods – for their standout innovations.

• Circunis turns waste into value by connecting businesses with surplus food to buyers via its platform.
• Foodflows improves what and how chefs, restaurants, and brands source from Brazilian farms, unleashing the full potential of shorter, fresher, and fairer supply chains.
• GoNina uses AI to predict demand in catering, helping kitchens reduce food waste without compromising quality.
• Yumame Foods harnesses the power of fungi to make it easier for businesses to offer minimally processed, plant-based products at scale.

Each company pitched its solution to a live audience before fielding questions from an expert jury featuring representatives from Planted, FHNW, Swiss Food Research, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, ZFV Group and Alpine chef, Rebecca Clopath.

Providing a platform to scale innovation

Christina Senn-Jakobsen, CEO of Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley said, “The hospitality sector plays a very important role in food system transformation. The Igeho Rising Star Award offers startups a chance to showcase their innovations at Switzerland’s leading platform for hospitality, allowing them to connect with potential partners and secure the funding they need to grow. Congratulations to catchfree and all the finalists.”

Igeho Brand Director, Benjamin Eulau, said, “We’re thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s Igeho Rising Star Award. All five finalists demonstrated innovative solutions to some of the food service and hospitality industry’s biggest challenges. I can’t wait to see how these promising startups’ innovations scale and drive impact.”
Now in its second edition, the Igeho Rising Stars Award was launched to celebrate and support promising founders and startups in the hospitality sector. All startups founded after 2020 and registered in Switzerland or Liechtenstein are able to participate. All 15 shortlisted startups were also invited to exhibit at the Igeho 2025, the largest hospitality platform in Switzerland.

About Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley

Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley (SFNV) is a purpose-driven not-for-profit association, founded in 2020. It brings together the Swiss agrifood ecosystem to pioneer future-proof food systems that are good for the planet, good for people, and good for the economy.

Today, SFNV represents more than 150 partners across Switzerland, from large enterprises, retailers, and academic institutions to cantons, SMEs and startups. 

Find out more at: https://swissfoodnutritionvalley.com/ 

About Igeho

Igeho is considered the most important international industry platform for hotels, catering, take-away and care in Switzerland. As a live marketing platform, Igeho offers the hospitality industry a comprehensive overview of the market, interesting networking opportunities and new inspiration on all aspects of hospitality. The first edition of Igeho took place in November 1965 in Basel – at that time still under the name “Internationale Fachmesse für Gemeinschaftsverpflegung”. Since its inception, the trade fair has been held biennially in Basel, with the exception of 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. Communal catering continues to play an important role, but the hotel, restaurant and take-away sectors were also added over the years. Today, Igeho is the largest meeting place for the hospitality industry in Switzerland.

Find out more at: www.igeho.ch 

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Fifteen startups have been invited to present their innovations at Igeho 2025 in November in Basel. A public vote will now determine which five advance to the final, where they will face questions from the panel and audience, competing for the 2025 Igeho Rising Star Award.

The application phase for the 2025 Igeho Rising Star Award closed on 31 January, attracting numerous submissions from food tech startups. Each entry was carefully reviewed by the Igeho team based on innovation and use of technology, sustainability and environmental impact, as well as business model and scalability.

Fifteen Swiss startups have been selected to showcase their companies at Igeho 2025, where they will present their innovations to the audience in Basel this November. Benjamin Eulau, Igeho’s Brand Director, shared his excitement: ‘We saw some truly impressive innovations among the applications. Many of these startups have the potential to address long-term challenges in the food service industry.’

Christina Senn-Jakobsen, CEO of Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, was also impressed by the applications submitted: “We were thrilled to hear that so many start-ups have applied to be part of the Igeho Rising Star Award 2025. From sustainable alternatives that offer consumers more diverse choices to tech-driven solutions that share the impact of what we put on our plates – so many Swiss ecosystem players are working tirelessly to create solutions that will make our food service sector more future-proof. I’m excited to watch them grow and scale through their participation in this competition.”

Public voting now open

The public vote to determine which five startups will compete for the 2025 Igeho Rising Star Award in the grand finale of Igeho 2025 opens today. Until 30 May, professionals from the hotel, restaurant, catering, and care industries can cast their votes for the startups they want to see in the final.

The selected startups are:

• Actidot
• catchfree
• Circunis
• FOOD2050
• Foodflows
• FoodFor
• GoNina
• Hexafed
• LOVYÜ
• Niatsu
• Sanvitafood
• Saya Suka
• SwissMiso
• TrueFoods
• Yumame Foods

Driving innovation through an award

As Switzerland’s leading international hospitality industry platform, Igeho is committed to fostering innovation. With the 2025 Igeho Rising Star Award, it provides emerging companies in the hospitality sector with a valuable opportunity to showcase their businesses, raise awareness of their innovations, and connect with industry professionals.

In collaboration with Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, Igeho aims to use this award to drive innovation by offering startups a platform and facilitating networking opportunities. ‘We see it as our duty to give startups the chance to present themselves and step into the spotlight,’ says Benjamin Eulau, Igeho’s Brand Director. ‘The hospitality industry and our food system depend on long-term innovation, and we’re proud to support that.’

The grand finale of the 2025 Igeho Rising Star Award will take place at Igeho 2025 in Basel, where the five finalists will compete for the title, along with cash and non-cash prizes. All holders of valid day tickets are welcome to attend and be part of the live audience.

Igeho: International platform for the hotel, catering, take-away and care sectors

Igeho is the most important international industry platform for the hotel, catering, take-away and care sectors in Switzerland. As a live marketing platform it offers the hiospitality branch a comprehensive market overview, interesting networking opportunities and new impulses around the topic of hospitality. The wide range of products and services will be complemented by an exciting supporting programme on current trends and the most important topics in the hospitality industry. The next Igeho will take place at Messe Basel from November 15 to 19, 2025.
www.igeho.ch 

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