On April Fools’ Day, we’re prepared for the hoaxes that weave their way into our favourite programmes and news platforms. But what about the myths that persist in our everyday lives – the misconceptions that shape how we, our families and friends think about the food we eat? 

Here at the Valley, we bring together the brightest minds to tackle the world’s most pressing food challenges – and it all starts with working with facts, not fiction. So this quarter, I decided to team up with colleagues from across the Swiss food ecosystem to set the record straight.

1. “There’s not enough food to feed us all”

The world produces more than enough food to nourish all the 8.2 billion people on this planet. Yet hunger and malnutrition persist – not because of scarcity, but due to issues like distribution challenges and food loss and waste.

Experts estimate that a third of all food produced is never eaten. In low-income countries, this food often never reaches consumers due to a lack of secure storage facilities and refrigeration. In high income countries private households are typically responsible for the largest proportion of food waste. 

The good news is that many innovators are already working on developing solutions in this space. From tackling pre- and post-harvest losses through edible natural coatings to food redistribution and side stream valorisation, actors all along the value chain can contribute to tackling this issue. 

2. “All processed food is unhealthy”

Today, processed food is often seen as a shorthand for junk food – but processing itself isn’t the problem. Processing is a tool that has helped safely and nutritiously feed the world for centuries. From fermentation to fortification, different processing techniques enhance nutrition, improve food safety, and reduce waste. 

In most cases, it’s the formulation of a product, rather than the way it was processed that results in foods that aren’t recommended as part of a healthy diet. While some ultra-processed foods are high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, others – like whole grain breads, fortified cereals, and some plant-based protein products – play a key role in making nutritious diets more accessible and sustainable.

Instead of demonising all processed foods, we should focus on improving their nutritional content and encouraging innovations that make healthy eating easier, more affordable, and more sustainable for everyone.

3. “Food not grown in soil is less tasty and nutritious”

Many people assume that food must be grown in soil to be nutritious, but this isn’t the case. In fact, controlled environment agriculture solutions, like hydroponics and aeroponics, provide crops with precisely controlled nutrients, water, and oxygen – often leading to more consistent quality. Unlike traditional soil-based farming, these systems reduce the risk of exposure to soil-borne diseases and allow for optimal growing conditions year-round.

Soilless farming methods also make agriculture more efficient and sustainable by reducing water and fertiliser waste. Technologies like closed-loop irrigation systems ensure that plants receive exactly what they need without environmental runoff. While these methods aren’t suitable for all crops, innovations in greenhouse farming are making it possible to grow fresh, high-quality produce in ways that are both resource-efficient and highly nutritious.

5. “Individual citizens can’t influence our food system.” 

It’s easy to assume that responsibility for transforming our food system lies with governments, companies, retailers or schools. But in reality, meaningful change requires all of us – including citizens.

While systemic factors shape our choices, individuals collectively hold significant power. The way we shop, eat, and advocate for better food options influences businesses, policy decisions, and innovation. Small, consistent changes at scale – like prioritising sustainable, nutritious options – can drive demand for better products and shift industry norms.

However, expecting people to make perfect choices in an imperfect system isn’t the solution. Instead, we must make sustainable choices convenient, affordable, and appealing and give citizens the information  they need to understand how their lunch has an impact. 

By aligning incentives and improving access to better food, we can ensure that the sustainable choice becomes the default choice – empowering individuals to be part of the food system transformation.

6. “All packaging is bad for the environment.” 

While packaging often gets a bad reputation, it plays a critical role in food safety, shelf life, and reducing food waste – which itself is a major contributor to global emissions. The key challenge isn’t eliminating packaging entirely, but rather redesigning it to be more sustainable.

Innovators across Switzerland and beyond are tackling this challenge by developing smarter, more circular solutions. B’ZEOS is creating seaweed-based packaging that’s fully biodegradable, while Agrosustain is working on natural food coatings to reduce the need for excess packaging. Meanwhile, Nestlé and Tetra Pak are pioneering recyclable and bio-based alternatives. 

Rather than focusing solely on eliminating packaging, the future lies in rethinking materials, improving recyclability, and designing smarter systems to keep packaging in the loop – ensuring it protects food while minimising its environmental impact.

Distinguishing fact from fiction 

I believe breaking down myths and distinguishing fact from fiction plays a huge role in ensuring that more people can understand food innovation’s role in supporting local agriculture, improving food security, and promoting access to more nutritious, delicious and affordable choices.

By collaborating with stakeholders across the supply chain, the Valley strives to bridge gaps, foster the connections that drive innovation, and pioneer more future-proof food systems.

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

“It’s the food companies!” he says.
“It’s the government’s job to legislate,” she argues.
“It’s people’s own responsibility,” others shout.
“It’s the schools that need to educate,” another chimes in.
“And retailers should step up!” adds another voice.

Amidst all this noise, the question remains: where does the responsibility for our direly needed food system transformation sit?

Like most things, the answer isn’t straightforward, and maybe not even fully understood. Determining who is the problem here is not as interesting as figuring out who can be a part of the solution. My hypothesis is that it is actually the same group. I believe that the answer lies with all of us – governments, companies, retailers, schools, and citizens alike. It’s the entire food ecosystem: meaning everyone who has “more-than-average knowledge” of how the food systems work. 

What follows are my thoughts on how we got into this intricate mess of unsustainable food systems, and how we can find our way out.

Imagine you’re running late for a meeting. But you’re hungry, so you stop off at a shop for a quick bite. You want something healthy, but the options don’t make it easy.

• You feel like a quick sandwich but there are no healthy and tasty-looking options.
• That hummus looks delicious but, despite its excessive packaging it’s not ideal for eating on the run.
• There’s veggie pizza on the hot counter, but it’s probably pretty salty, fatty and lacking in fibre – and should you really be eating so much ready-made food?

Finally, you grab the chocolate bar at the checkout – something to tide you over until later in the day when you can sit down for a healthy, great-tasting meal.

This is the reality for so many people today. We have countless food options at our fingertips, yet making healthy and sustainable choices often feels out of reach. In Zurich, where I live, it is estimated that 40% of all meals are consumed outside the home, where they are outside of our full control.

The deadline for achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) is quickly approaching. And you’re late for work. 

Were you in this scenario, what would you have chosen?

How did we get in this mess?

The challenges in our food systems didn’t appear overnight. They are the result of decades of decisions and developments, driven by necessity and followed by unintended consequences.

150 years ago we had approximately one billion people on Earth, 90% of which lived in severe poverty. With the Industrial Revolution, we transformed agriculture and food production, enabling mass production, medicine, and education. We took people out of poverty. Today, eight billion people live on Earth, with less than 10% living in extreme poverty. 

Feeding a rapidly growing population was a challenge. In the 1940s–1950s we turned to chemical fertilisers and pesticides and developed high-yield crop varieties as solutions, enabling higher yields and ensuring food security in the short term. We have never produced more food than we do today. 

But these innovations came at a cost. In return for yield and efficiency, we traded the health of our soils and significantly increased greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through intensive livestock production and farming. Over time, mass consumption and production became a status symbol and consuming more became a sign of prosperity.

A paradox of plenty

Although we produce more food than ever, solving global hunger and ensuring sustainable food systems requires addressing structural inequalities, reducing waste, and transitioning to more environmentally friendly practices.

Fast forward to today, and the cracks in the system are clear. We’re left with a food economy that externalises the environmental and human health costs of production, and a culture that has little choice but to favour “fast and cheap” over “healthy and sustainable.”

But we can reverse course.

Change is possible because our cumulative actions matter. That’s not to say we each need to go 100% vegan or vow to never make an unsustainable choice again. If eight billion people made small, manageable changes in their food choices, we could shift the tide far more effectively than relying on a few million people to live flawlessly sustainable lives.

So how do we empower citizens to make these changes? We must first understand what drives our decision making when it comes to the foods we eat every day.

What drives our decisions about food?

When we think about transforming food systems, it’s tempting to focus solely on innovation and systemic change. I believe that too often, we stop at the retail shelf. We forget that no matter how groundbreaking or exciting an innovation may be, it only drives impact if it’s embraced by citizens.

The reality is, we can’t – and in my opinion, don’t need to – make everyone a food system advocate. But we can put ourselves in people’s shoes and make an effort to understand their lives, values, and priorities. We need to meet people where they are. Food is deeply personal – rooted in culture and habit. If we want to drive change, we must make sustainable choices easy and desirable to citizens. 

So, what are the key factors influencing food choices today?

1. Taste: It’s the #1 driver of repeat food purchases. No matter how sustainable or healthy a product is, it won’t sell if it’s not appetising.
2. Price: Especially in a post-COVID world, affordability matters. Citizens are more price-sensitive than ever, and sustainable choices often come with a premium price tag. 
3. Convenience: People want healthier and more sustainable options, but they also need them to be accessible; easy to find and prepare.

The reality is that most people prioritise their immediate needs – like flavour and affordability  – over abstract goals like planetary health. To create real change, we must align incentives and make healthier and sustainable options the easy, tasty, affordable and obvious choice.

Research shows that change accelerates when roughly 25% of a population adopts a new behaviour. If we can make sustainable choices appealing to that critical mass, we can drive transformation at scale.

Where does change begin?

To transform our food systems, we must start by acknowledging the true costs embedded in the way we produce, process, and consume food today. We must consider not just production and processing costs, but impact costs as well: on human health, the environment, and even societal stability.

Consider these examples of disconnect:

The food we consider ‘cheap’ today, really isn’t so cheap after all. We are paying a premium price through our taxes, which are used to account for the true costs.

What if we invested even a fraction of these hidden costs, or negative externalities, upfront? By making healthy, sustainable food more affordable, appealing and available, we could reduce healthcare expenses, protect our ecosystems, and improve quality of life for citizens around the world. 

A win, win, win. 

Policy changes are the catalyst for this transformation 

When governments act, the effects ripple through the entire food ecosystem. Click on the examples below to find out more about how policy changes across the world are driving change.

3 wishes

If I had a genie in a bottle, my three wishes for empowering citizens might be:

1. Redesign all checkout counters and replace all chocolate, chips, and sugary snacks with fruit, nut and seed snacks, veggie sticks, wholegrain crackers, and kefir yogurts. Then, measure the impact on health and sales.
2. Remove all taxes on local fruit and vegetables, communicate the initiative, and add the CO2 footprint of each food item next to its price on the receipt. What gets measured gets managed.
3. Install automatic food waste measures on all household bins, and then translate that waste into money lost.
   

Food service: meeting citizens where they are

Food service providers have a unique opportunity to introduce citizens to healthier and more sustainable choices in familiar, everyday settings.

• Take the ZFV-Living Lab.  ZFV is a Valley Partner that, through the ZFV Living Lab, creates a platform for practical test environments to facilitate market access. The Living Lab allows them to work with start-ups, companies and educational institutions to test innovative solutions for CO2 reduction in the food service sector.
  
• Projects like The Chefs’ Manifesto highlight how chefs can champion sustainable choices and make them irresistible through their expertise and creativity.
• The MICHELIN Green Star puts a spotlight on restaurants that are at the forefront of sustainable practices, many of which work directly with growers and fishermen and use regenerative methods.
• One Scottish university opted to remove meat from all campus catering menus, demonstrating how institutional decisions can influence citizen behavior to be less harmful to our environment. Others, such as Cambridge, soon followed.

Retail: the power of choice architecture

Retailers play a pivotal role in shaping dietary choices by creating what behavioural scientists call “choice architecture” – the number of options presented on retail shelves, the way in which these options are presented, and the presence of a default.

• Valley partner ALDI SUISSE partners with startups to test new sustainable products on its shelves, removing traditional barriers to entry and providing citizens with access to innovative options. 
• In Norway, retail initiatives like displaying carbon footprints on receipts have encouraged shoppers to think critically about their choices, leading to a decline in red meat demand and an increase in purchase of local fruit and vegetables.
• Consumers no longer need to pay extra for plant-based meat and dairy products in nearly all Dutch supermarkets. In fact, such options are now cheaper overall than conventional meat and dairy products.
• The Dutch government has also been working towards implementing a 0% VAT rate on fruits and vegetables, with some retailers agreeing to pass the full VAT savings onto consumers – though implementation has faced some challenges.

Retailers have numerous tools at hand to influence shopper decision making, including which products they choose to feature, shelf placement, marketing and magazine features, and a choice on which products they choose to have high margins on.

When food service and retail work together alongside the whole ecosystem to introduce citizens to new options, they help normalize these choices, effectively paving the way for broader adoption.

Ultimately, only appetising innovations have impact

To drive food system innovation we need to make healthier and more sustainable options more appealing. This means all actors in the food system – from governments to retailers – have a responsibility and role to play in introducing citizens to new options and empowering them to embrace them. We must work together to make healthier and more sustainable options not just available but desirable.

So, imagine the same scenario from earlier: you’re hungry and late for a meeting. You stop off at a shop for a quick bite. But this time, the story is different.

The government has implemented policies that align subsidies with sustainable practices, enabling farmers to supply affordable, high-quality ingredients. Manufacturers have used these ingredients to create delicious, plant-based wraps and snacks that are just as – if not more – affordable and convenient than less sustainable options. Retailers have placed these items front and center, making them easy to spot. 

Perhaps you’re even able to check your smart device – set to filter for the sustainability issues that matter most to you – to determine a product’s impact on animal welfare, micro-nutrient intake, carbon emissions, and so on.

And products are as mouthwatering and tasty as shown on the billboard advertising outside the store.

Tell me, what would you choose now?

This is the vision we must strive toward. By aligning incentives and focusing on taste, affordability, and accessibility, we can empower citizens to drive the food system transformation we so urgently need. Together, we can ensure that the sustainable choice becomes the easy and appetising choice for all.

If you’re reading this, you probably play an empowering role somewhere in our food system. Make sure your 2025 plan includes fulfilling that role in the best way you’re able.

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Image: freepix.com

Source

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Christina Senn-Jakobsen

Managing Director
Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley

Connect on LinkedIn

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

At COP 28, Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE’s minister of Climate Change and Environment said that our climate goals simply can’t be achieved without urgently creating more sustainable and resilient food systems. 

On the same day, 134 countries including Switzerland signed a landmark declaration – the first of its kind for the COP process – committing to put food systems and agriculture at the heart of their climate ambitions. A coalition of farmers, businesses and civil society groups – including SFNV partners dsm-firmenich, Nestlé and Tetra Pak – signed a “Non-State Actors Call to Action” that highlights food and agriculture as solutions, and not just drivers, of the global climate crisis and commits to put the declaration into action. 

As a big believer in collaborative approaches, I was thrilled to see partners coming together to put food at the heart of their climate plans. But I also know that top-level commitments like these are often met with a certain level of scepticism. In fact, at events, I frequently hear colleagues ask critical but fair questions about the role of global food system players, and whether they’re doing enough to accelerate transformation. 

In a world where our food systems are responsible for a third of our global greenhouse gas emissions while a third of all food produced is lost or wasted, I understand the frustration and the need for speed. And I also recognise why multinational companies – that represent such a huge part of global supply chains – are seen as part of the problem. But at the same time, I believe that they are an essential part of the solution. 

Why global players are part of the solution

To understand where we are today and where we are going, I think it helps to explore where we’ve come from. Since the industrial revolution, our food system has been geared towards producing safe food at highest output and at lowest cost. Global food players emerged as pioneers that used the latest technologies to provide a growing population with long-lasting, affordable and more convenient choices. But some of these approaches also led to new challenges for the world and its population – something only truly acknowledged by the first climate change legislation which came into force in 1994.

Today, we know that there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all. Geo-political developments have been a wake-up call for the food industry. The global pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis, combined with the impact of failed harvests due to extreme weather conditions have exposed the fragility of our food systems. It’s clear that sustainability and positive climate impact must be central to the business models of the future.

The sheer size and geographical coverage of global food system players mean that the actions they take have a huge potential for rapid transformation. Large enterprises have always been experts at using insights to respond to, and stay slightly ahead of, consumer demand. Today, they’re drawing on their broad scientific knowledge, extensive talent pool, their infrastructure and processing capacity and global logistic systems to re-imagine processes and products that align business and sustainability objectives. And they’re investing to scale the solutions that have the biggest impact.  In my opinion, we simply cannot feed the world nutritiously and safely without them. 

But rethinking the way we produce and consume food is not just about launching a few new products in a few key markets. We need systemic change to embed more sustainable practices across global supply chains — from the way food is grown, processed, packed, distributed and marketed to how it is consumed and disposed of. 

Accelerating the transition

In the 13 years that I worked for a multinational company, I witnessed first-hand how company culture and mindsets can shift. Teams recognised the limits of a “not-invented-here” mentality and saw that spotting and acting on win-win synergies is the most successful way of doing business. 

Today, global food system players know that they can’t achieve their objectives in silos. They need to work alongside customers to help them innovate and empower stakeholders across their supply chains to take action, through financial incentives or practical support. They also recognise that, despite their size, they’re still just one partner in a broad and diverse ecosystem and through partnerships with peers, academia and startups they can leverage their complementary strengths and move forward faster. They also operate at local level, working alongside SMEs and connecting into regionally relevant technologies, products and solutions to drive food system sustainability.

Take food waste. According to Project Drawdown, reducing food waste is the number one action that the world can take to mitigate climate change before 2050 – but impact depends on a broad range of interconnected issues from changes in legislation to changes in our shopping habits. From investing in research to tackle post-harvest losses and developing new processing and packaging technology to upcycling byproducts, using intelligent inventory management systems and finding new ways to valorize side streams, large enterprises are developing solutions that reduce supply chain waste and boost products’ nutritional value, while creating new business opportunities. 

Tetra Pak: Transforming food processing to minimise waste 

• Today, around 40 million tons of brewers’ grain are used as animal feed or as landfill each year and typically one third of every soybean is lost in processing, despite both side streams being rich in fibre and protein.
• Working alongside food manufacturers, Tetra Pak developed technology to transform spent brewers’ grain into a high-value liquid ingredient and use the whole soybean in plant-based beverages, increasing the fibre content without impacting taste or texture.
• These measures, alongside others, contribute to their target to achieve a 50% reduction of product loss in best-practice processing lines by 2030.

Regenerative agriculture is another example. The Earth’s soil capacity is declining so dramatically that some experts predict that we have fewer than 60 harvests remaining. Recognising that a significant proportion of their greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, many large companies are investing in research, programmes and practical support to drive uptake of regenerative agricultural practices in their supply chains, inspiring farmers to make the transition and mitigating some of the risks they face when stepping out of the standard industrial model. Building on this momentum, many have been involved in shaping the recently announced COP 28 Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes, an initiative that will help to share learnings between actors active in this space and broker new partnerships to accelerate progress. 

ADM & Nestlé: Scaling regenerative agricultural practices across supply chains

• Nearly two-thirds of Nestlé’s global greenhouse gas emissions come from sourcing ingredients – so Nestlé has committed to sourcing 50% of their key ingredients – around 14 million tonnes – through regenerative agriculture methods by 2030. 
• In July this year, Nestlé and  ADM teamed up to enable regenerative agricultural practices in their wheat supply chain through a combination of financial support and technical resources and assistance.
• ADM also recently released a comprehensive report summarising their progress in this space, sharing that they’ve enrolled partners working on 2 million acres of farmland to date and they plan to reach 4 million acres by 2025.

A focus on collaboration and co-creation

Of course, global food system players have a lot more work to do and it’s ok if we remind them of their responsibility, given their potential impact. Our understanding of the most effective approaches is constantly evolving. New frameworks, like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, will harmonise how we talk about sustainability, boost transparency, and ensure that companies honour their commitments, while helping them to spot new opportunities for innovation. 

For me, the answer lies where this article began: a commitment to collaborate and put words into action – across ecosystems, both nationally and internationally. Whether you’re a startup, a policymaker, a change maker, or a researcher, exchanging and teaming up with large companies could boost your reach and impact. There’s no time to lose and the Valley’s global partners are ready. Let’s co-create. 

Find out more about the Valley’s large enterprise partners 

Our 140+ strong community of Swiss food innovators includes 7 large enterprises. You can read more about their individual commitments and initiatives via the links below. 

ADM | ALDI SUISSE |  Bühler | dsm-firmenich | Givaudan | Nestlé | Tetra Pak

Never miss a Swiss food innovation morsel.

Latest News