Spotting the Rising Stars in food tech with Igeho Brand Director Benjamin Eulau

Jan 26, 2025 | Ecosystem news, Member Highlight

Spotting the Rising Stars in food tech with Igeho Brand Director Benjamin Eulau

Spotting the Rising Stars in food tech with Igeho Brand Director Benjamin Eulau
As a leading international trade fair for Switzerland’s hotel, catering, take-away and care industries, the Igeho offers a unique platform for exhibitors and visitors to engage in dialogue and promote innovation. 
In 2023, Igeho launched the Igeho Rising Star Award to support founders and startups in the hospitality sector. For this year’s edition of this award, food tech startups can submit their applications by January 31, 2025, to present their innovations to industry experts at the event. Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley (SFNV) is proud to support the Awards.
We spoke with Benjamin Eulau, Brand Director at Igeho, to find out more, explore why food tech is so important for the food service sector, and to discover what attendees can expect from this year’s event.

What makes the Igeho such a unique event?

The Igeho aims to create an inspiring environment that meets the needs of both exhibitors and visitors. It is important to us to provide exhibitors with the right tools and platforms to present their products and services in a way that resonates with current trends and propels the industry forward.  This shared commitment – between the team, exhibitors and experts – makes the Igeho an indispensable meeting point and a driving force for the entire industry.

What motivated you to create the Igeho Rising Star Award in 2023, and what opportunities does the Award provide for food tech startups?

As the largest hospitality industry platform in Switzerland, we feel responsible for promoting innovation, as it will have a lasting impact on the sector. We offer 15 startups a free booth at the Igeho in November 2025, where they can showcase their innovations to the food service sector, a key entry point for launching F&B products. These startups will also benefit from the Award’s media exposure. On site, five startups selected by the community will have the chance to present their services and products in the final and compete for prize money and the Award.

What can attendees expect from this year’s edition of the Igeho Rising Star Award?

This year, The Igeho Rising Star Award will focus on the topic of food tech – a sector that addresses many of the key challenges of our time while also directly impacting the hospitality industry. Food tech innovations are particularly well-suited for showcasing on a stage: the audience can see and hear about the products, smell, touch, and, most importantly, taste them.

How does the Igeho Rising Star Award contribute to Switzerland’s broader food tech ecosystem?

Food innovations have an impact not only on the food service industry but also on the general public. It would be great if we could use the Award to support startups that provide added value to the entire ecosystem. The Igeho’s strengths lie in food service and hospitality. This is why our partnership with SFNV is so important. It allows us to complement and enhance our skills and strengths in the best way possible.

The 2023 edition was a great success. Can you share more about the impact winning had on the last Award’s finalists, like EggField?

EggField Founder Silvan Leibacher was a guest on our podcast, Hosting the Hosts, where he discussed the Rising Star Award 2023 and EggField’s presence at the Igeho. He highlighted how pitching at the Rising Star Award opened many doors, allowing them to make new contacts and win notable clients.

And finally, what excites you most about the startups you anticipate seeing in this year’s competition?

This year, we’ll focus on three key criteria: innovation and use of technology; sustainability and environmental impact; and business model and scalability. Whether startups address health burdens, reduce the industry’s environmental impact, improve efficiency or tackle food waste by transforming industry by-products, we are genuinely looking forward to reviewing the applicants’ submissions. Personally, taste is what matters most to me. I’m excited to see which sustainable alternatives and new innovations we’ll have the chance to try out.

Apply to the Igeho Rising Star Award 2025

The Igeho Rising Star Award 2025 is now open for applications, inviting FoodTech startups to showcase their innovations on Switzerland’s largest hospitality platform. Applications are free and close on January 31, 2025. Don’t miss the chance to follow in EggField’s footsteps and take your startup to the next level.

Click here to apply and learn more.

Latest News

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Sign up for our newsletter

Insolight announces its first agrivoltaic installation at scale

Jun 27, 2023 | Ecosystem news, Headline, Member Highlight

Insolight announces its first agrivoltaic installation at scale

Mirai foods burger

Swiss scale-up Insolight is on a mission to bring the next generation of solar modules to market to enable farmers to protect their crops while producing solar energy and help build resilience against climate change. Their dynamic Agrivoltaic solution has now been deployed at bioschmid GmbH in Lucern. 

Partnering with growers

This joint installation with Monika and Heinz Schmid, who both run organic farms, is part of a project in which three different agrivoltaic systems are being tested in comparison with a control area. The plant is built over an area of 2600 m2 of raspberries and is expected to produce around 190 MWh of electricity per year in addition to the raspberry yield.

Insolight’s dynamic agrivoltaic solution insolagrin is an agronomic tool designed to protect crops while simultaneously producing solar energy – supporting growers in the transition to a more sustainable and resilient agricultural production. It offers an alternative to protective plastic tunnels and enables consumers to choose energy positive fruit. 

Project supporters

Following the construction phase in 2023, the Swiss Federal Research Station Agroscope Conthey and the Bern University of Applied Sciences will conduct research at the site and accompany the project for the next three years.

The pilot plant, which was launched by bioschmid gmbh, is supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the Canton of Lucerne (Swisslos), the Fondation sur la Croix, the Foundation Valery and other foundations, as well as the system suppliers involved.

Driving the energy transition

This new installation represents a major step towards the energy transition in Switzerland. It shows that scalable innovative solutions to protect crops, and produce food and green energy on the same land are available and brings us closer to realizing the vision set out in Switzerland’s new Climate and Innovation Act that was approved by Swiss citizens on the 18th June 2023.

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Follow us on Linkedin

Latest News

How Haelixa is using DNA markers to power transparency across the food supply chain

Nov 18, 2022 | Member Highlight, Member news, Press-releases

How Haelixa is using DNA markers to power transparency across the food supply chain

Haelixa co-founders, Gediminas Mikutas and Michela Puddu

The seeds of sustainability startup Haelixa were first sown when its co-founders Gediminas Mikutas and Michela Puddu, connected over their shared passion for making the value chain more open and accountable. From fabrics to food, Haelixa is committed to ensuring transparency and traceability across the supply chain.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Gediminas Mikutas, CTO and co-founder of Haelixa. While working on my PhD at ETH Zürich, I met Michela, CEO and our other co-founder, and we realised our world views really aligned. So together we began working on the development of DNA markers for product traceability.

Pitch Haelixa in 20 seconds.

Haelixa offers proprietary and innovative solutions to physically mark, trace, and authenticate products from producer to retail, creating transparency along the entire supply chain – whether linear or circular. This enables companies to showcase their commitment to transparency, allowing consumers to identify sustainable and authentic products.

What gets you out of bed in the morning? 

Knowing that my business’ objectives are supporting other companies to achieve their sustainability goals really motivates me every day. And, more generally, living the Swiss mountain life and getting to enjoy the outdoors all year round!

What key milestones have you hit so far? 

We’ve worked with fellow Valley member, Bühler, to validate our food traceability solution in real-life food supply chains. The solution can be used as a processing aid in Switzerland. As of this year, the solution is GRAS (FDA) and we will be closing a Series A investment round in 2023.

What are you and your team working on at the moment?

Currently, our focus markets are food, textiles, gemstones and precious metals. We’re working on launching the product to be used to mark and trace food. To enter the food market, after getting clarity in the United States, we’re working to meet European regulations. We’re also busy scaling our commercial textile solution internationally.

How do you collaborate and support others in the ecosystem?

We strive to be the ‘Swiss Army knife’ of traceable solutions – we’re consistent, functional, reliable, and high-quality. We collaborate with companies that also prioritize these values. As a growing business, successful collaboration means enabling partners to achieve their sustainability objectives and be responsible manufacturers.

What support could the Valley community offer to further your work? 

We’re excited about joining the Valley community and look forward to making some great connections and benefiting from advice from other food innovators. It’s so important to partner with other ecosystem actors – no one achieves their goals alone.

Tell us something we don’t know about your company.

The Haelixa office is located at The Valley in Kemptthal, which just so happens to be where Julius Maggi founded his namesake brand, Switzerland’s favorite flavor. And – a bonus fact – our name is a reference to the double helix structure of DNA.

Connect with Gediminas Mikutas on LinkedIn and visit the Haelixa website to find out more.  

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Follow us on LinkedIn
Subscribe to updates

Latest News

How this end-to-end innovation platform is helping to close the data gap on nutrition status in children and adolescents in Switzerland.

Sep 21, 2022 | Ecosystem news, Headline, Member Highlight, Member news

How this end-to-end innovation platform is helping to close the data gap on nutrition status in children and adolescents in Switzerland.

With Serge Rezzi at the helm, the former Swiss Vitamin Institute has transformed into the Swiss Nutrition and Health foundation – a foundation of public utility owning an end-to-end innovation platform in the field of nutrients and health. We sat down with Serge to talk about science, collaboration and an unprecedented national study that his team helped kick off this year.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Serge Rezzi, CEO of the Swiss Nutrition and Health Foundation. But ultimately I am a scientist passionate about nutrient chemistry and biology – nothing more, nothing less.

Pitch your company in 20 seconds.

We’re a one-stop shop for nutrient analytics dedicated to food and nutrition research. We’re most well known for testing nutrients in food products providing world-renowned independent certification programs. But I like to say we are scientists specialized in tracking the nutrient journey from foods to human cells, bridging chemistry to biochemistry and nutritional status. We’re also a medical analysis laboratory for nutrient status and support innovation through translational research projects.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Nutrients are key to maintaining physiological functions and we get them from the food we eat every day of our lives. Nutrition is so vital to maintaining health. So when I get up in the morning, I think: what good can I do to evidence the role of nutrients on health today? How can I have an impact on raising public awareness about the importance of nutrition? And how can I support companies to develop innovative and nutritious products?

What does a typical day at work look like for you? 

Well, it always starts with a good coffee! I connect with my team, always trying to lead with empathy, positive energy and sense of humor. Then maybe I’ll have a meeting with partners about an R&D project or certification. Or perhaps I’ll update my board members on our progress and assess how our strategy is bringing us closer to achieving our mission. I also make sure I leave plenty of time to continuously study nutrient biochemistry, identify potential opportunities for innovation in nutrition status assessment and nutritional biomarkers, especially to develop science-based concepts for precision nutrition. I also strive to contribute to scientific publications as I see peer review as a hallmark of scientific quality. I am also teaching at EPFL and in several other education programs.

Which projects are you and your team currently working on? 

This year we kicked off a very exciting new project. Together with unisanté and other partners, we won the tender from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) to perform the menuCH-Kids, an unprecedented national survey to assess dietary habits and nutritional status of children and adolescents (6-17 years) in Switzerland. This unique project represents a stepping stone to assess reference ranges of nutritional status biomarkers in Switzerland. 

We also started working on a new project on biomass valorization with the Canton of Fribourg as part of its agrifood strategy. We are tracking nutrient-rich co-products to enable their upcycling into high value nutritional ingredients. We’re aiming to validate new proof of concepts with novel prototypes by the end of the year.

And that’s not all. We’re also working on an EU funded H2020 project that aims to develop a precision nutrition platform for the youngest members of our population and we’re contributing to a project around vitamin D bioavailability. There’s never a dull day in the Swiss Nutrition and Health Foundation office!

Tell us about how you work with others in the ecosystem to innovate 

We’re lucky to collaborate with lots of great partners and fellow SFNV members, including Cluster Food & Nutrition and EPFL. 

Our slogan is “anchoring trust through science” and this provides the basis for our collaborations. We start by focusing on our expertise in nutrient analytics and biochemistry, then we partner with other organizations to bring in complementary skills as required on a per project basis. 

Thanks to our strong network of academic, startups and industry partners, we can mobilize resources and skills to tackle a broad range of topics in agro-food-nutrition research pretty quickly.

How can SFNV members get involved in your work? 

We can partner with startups that are looking for specific scientific expertise through a number of Innosuisse or other funding programs. We’re always eager to further strengthen our network and to support the development of science-based and healthy nutritional solutions. So if you see parallels with our work, please do get in touch. 

Precision nutrition is a key area that you explore through your work. Which key opportunities do you see here?

We believe that any type of precision nutrition should be based on solid science that begins with reliable nutrition status diagnostics. There is a lot of market-driven opportunism trying to position new services and product offerings with science gaps or shortcuts about biomarkers or their measurement technologies.  

We see a great opportunity to invest in understanding the biochemical/physiological fundamentals that underpin the dynamics of nutrition status biomarkers in cells and circulating biofluids. There is still work to be done on validating translation of these biomarkers on minimally invasive measurement technologies. At the same time, it’s important to develop next generation biomarkers that will be able to capture the complex molecular interactions between nutrients, host and microbiome.  

We also need to initiate a paradigm shift about nutritional biomarkers. We need to develop them to provide more insight into long term metabolic consequences on health as opposed to using them to indicate an immediate nutrition deficiency.   

Tell us something we didn’t know about your foundation

The Swiss Nutrition and Health foundation has been collaborating with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on the standardization of a folate status (vitamin B9 status) for many years now. Despite the advent of modern analytics, we’re still interested in using fairly old techniques using specific microorganisms to quantify bioavailable forms of vitamins, as these microbiological assays remain highly valuable in many cases. This collaboration is now being extended to vitamin B12 diagnostics. The foundation laboratory is also developing a platform for the in vitro measurement of the protein digestibility aiming to quantify protein nutritional quality.

Connect with Serge Rezzi on LinkedIn and visit the Swiss Nutrition and Health foundation website for more information.

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Follow SFNV on LinkedIn

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem.

Become a member

How a climate-friendly sandwich is giving consumers a taste of our culinary future

Sep 14, 2022 | Headline, Member Highlight, Member news

How a climate-friendly sandwich is giving consumers a taste of our culinary future

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.

Never miss a food innovation morsel
Follow the Valley on LinkedIn

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

Become a member

Ice cream innovation from Geneva-based startup Konoï

Sep 7, 2022 | Headline, Member Highlight

Ice cream innovation from Geneva-based startup Konoï

Genevan company Konoï creates fresh frozen ice cream treats made from Cannabis sativa seeds. Their innovative process aims to reintroduce hemp – the “Royal Seed” – into Swiss diets.

Konoi’s products are more than “just” ice cream. In addition to their gourmet flavors, their products are made from hemp milk, a unique artisanal product that the company is looking to reintroduce to Swiss diets.

“As well as being healthy and rich in protein, this plant-based milk is great for the environment. Hemp can be grown locally and requires  minimal water and no pesticides. Its production actually requires about ten times less water and CO2 compared to cow’s milk,” says Benoît Fanin, co-founder of Konoï, a startup based in Meyrin, Geneva. Alongside his partner Kumiko Kuwabara, Benoît has carried out several years of research and development, working between Switzerland and Austria to perfect their process. Their long-term objective has always been to create hemp-based treats to gradually reintroduce these nutritious seeds to our diets – starting with frozen sweet desserts.

“Hemp was one of the first plants that humans cultivated. Since the Neolithic era, it’s been used for food and clothing, as a medicine and for making tools. The Persians even called it the “Royal Seed”.” Unfortunately hemp was banned in the 20th century, due to its psychotropic properties. “Today, we’re doing all we can to remove the stigma around hemp and show consumers its many benefits.”

Producing white nectar

To produce hemp milk the organic seeds are harvested, mixed with water and ground. The mixture is then poured through a cheesecloth to filter the milk. “It’s actually a very simple process,” says Benoît.

The smooth white liquid has slightly ‘green’ taste, with a subtle touch of hazelnut. “It’s a fairly neutral and discreet drink. We market it raw – unpasteurized – in order to preserve all its properties, contrary to the industry norm”, he remarks, and estimates that there are roughly ten hemp milk producers in the world.

Once this step is complete, the liquid is infused for more than eight hours with different ingredients to create a selection of gourmet flavors, such as balsamic strawberry, ginger pear or even black sesame. The ingredients are then poured into moulds, moved into the freezer and packaged once frozen. The bright and colorful packaging was designed by Kumiko, his partner, who happens to be a professional designer. 

Changing mindsets

Given increasing awareness of the climate crisis and the growing popularity of veganism, demand for their products is certainly present – but many stereotypes still exist.

“Some adults are afraid to give hemp to their children, but the seeds are far from being a drug! When we created the company, banks weren’t even willing to open a business account for us and we’re still not able to do advertising campaigns on social networks. Mindsets need to change.”

In addition to the legalization of CBD, the recent lifting of the ban on cannabis for medical use in Switzerland is helping to revive the Swiss hemp industry. Konoï also recently became a Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley member. “This gives us credibility both in the food industry and with customers. It’s a great step forward.” 

But Benoît and Kumiko do not intend to stop there. In addition to their frozen desserts, they also produce multi-functional pancake mix and herbal teas and are planning to launch a range of sugar-free biscuits and a plant-based milk concentrate in the autumn, with a view to becoming market leaders. “This plant played a central role in the development of our societies. It is time to give it the credit it deserves, as part of a healthy, sustainable and local food supply chain.

 

About the producers: Benoît Fanin and Kumiko Kuwabara

While studying Education Sciences at university, Benoît Fanin ran a small shop specializing in ethical consumption, where he sold, among other things, hemp seeds. “Initially, I was making milk for my personal consumption, then I decided to transform it into a business.” With the support of his partner Kumiko, originally from Tokyo, Japan, the 40-year-old developed his first ice cream in 2014, before founding his company three years ago. Today, the brand’s products are available in around twenty points of sale, from Geneva to Vevey.

Connect with Benoît Fanin on LinkedIn or find out more on the Konoi website. 

This article was originally published in French by Terre & Nature. 
Text: Lila Erard
Photos: Nicolas Righetti/Lundi13

Follow SFVN on LinkedIn

Latest News

Join the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley ecosystem and be partof the journey!

Become a member

Sign In

Don't have an account yet? Register

Forgot password?

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.