Why healthier choices aren’t a willpower problem

What a roundtable of clinicians, insurers, government, food companies and startups taught us about metabolic health in Switzerland

Why metabolic health, and why Switzerland?

Metabolic ill health, from insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes to fatty liver disease and high blood pressure, is increasingly recognised as a common driver of chronic disease, rising healthcare costs and shorter lives.

The urgency is clear. 

Life insurance models depend on continued improvements in mortality, yet gains in life expectancy slowed between 2010 and 2020. Metabolic ill health is thought to be one of the contributing factors.

Switzerland might seem well protected. We walk a lot, enjoy the outdoors and have comparatively low BMI. But appearances can be misleading. National diabetes figures rely largely on surveys rather than testing, and studies of seemingly healthy older adults have found substantially more undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes than self-reported data suggests. Meanwhile, only a small share of healthcare spending goes towards prevention, despite its potential to deliver significant health and economic benefits.

There are reasons for optimism. 

Nutrition-focused programmes have helped people with type 2 diabetes reduce or even stop medication, while one workplace pilot saw most participants on disability claims return to work. Now, the ambition should go beyond managing metabolic disease to reversing it where possible.

This is about making healthier choices easier for everyone. 

That requires collective action across the food system and beyond, bringing together producers, retailers, schools, healthcare professionals, employers and policymakers to raise awareness and create the conditions for better metabolic health.

Beyond individual behaviour

The discussion pointed beyond individual behaviour to the forces that shape it: the food environment, early habits, industry practices, economic incentives and the evidence needed to know what works.

Information alone is not enough. People are already surrounded by health information, and consumer research shows many are motivated but confused. They want clearer labelling and fewer unhealthy products in the shops, yet find the environment working against them. 

At the Roundtable it became clear that knowledge needs to come with practical, actionable steps, and that metabolic health needs to be translated into benefits people can actually feel, such as more energy and less fatigue, rather than abstract long-term risk.

Make the healthy choice the easy one. One memorable example: when an office moved soft drinks from an open fridge to a cupboard a few steps away, consumption fell dramatically. Nobody was banned from anything, it was just that the environment simply changed. 

The same logic applies to supermarket shelves, canteens, school menus and workplace snacks. As one participant put it, healthy food has to be tasty, and it should not cost more than unhealthy food.

Start with children. Asked for the single most important lever, many pointed to children: habits formed early tend to stick, and kids can carry new habits home to their parents and at the same time school food only works if children actually want to eat it.

Industry has a role in the solution. Reformulating products and making healthier options appealing and affordable can shift what millions of people eat without asking each of them to make a better decision every time. Voluntary, sector-wide commitments, such as gradual sugar reduction, were cited as working best when competitors move together on a level playing field. Many small steps, repeated across many products, add up.

Rethink incentives. A recurring tension was that parts of the system are rewarded for treating illness rather than preventing it. We discussed how insurers, healthcare providers, employers and food producers could be rewarded for prevention, and noted the legal limits on what basic health insurance can offer. Everyone agreed that prevention programmes need a credible economic case, and that rigorous evaluation is part of building one.

Better data, better decisions. From a national view of how many people actually have metabolic conditions to knowing which interventions work, participants kept returning to the need for stronger evidence. Technologies such as continuous glucose monitoring and AI-supported personalisation were seen as promising, but not yet accessible or well enough understood by the people who could benefit most.

Together, we discussed:

• Whether regulation has a place
• How far food choices are really free choices
• How to keep people engaged over the long term
• How much weight sits on individuals versus systems

Collective action

No single stakeholder can transform the food and health environment alone. 

Businesses, healthcare providers, researchers, educators, insurers, policymakers, workplaces and individuals can each act, and greater impact becomes possible when those actions are connected.

That is what the Nutrition4MetabolicHealth Initiative aims to enable: bringing sectors together around concrete opportunities for action and turning conversation into progress. 

A key part of that is small, real-world pilots, sometimes called living labs, in which partners test an idea in a real setting, learn quickly and share what they find so others can build on it.

What comes next

Our work continues as we build up to the Nutrition4MetabolicHealth Summit on 3-4 November, which will bring together renowned experts and innovators, showcase existing and new initiatives, and give leaders from across sectors the chance to commit to action.

Together, we'll explore the key questions shaping metabolic health today, from macronutrients and insulin to the history of nutrition, and how different sectors can integrate these insights into their decisions, products and services.

Here's a taste of who will be joining us – 10 renowned metabolic health and nutrition experts and researchers:

Derek Brandt, CEO at Diabetes Center Berne
Arne Astrup, Senior Consultant and Researcher
Mojgan Masoodi, Professor at University of Bern
Kerstin Plehwe, President at PAN International Foundation
Niti Pall, President-Elect at International Diabetes Federation
Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, Director at Longevity Center Switzerland
Janne Martikainen, Dr Professor at University of Eastern Finland
Benjamin Bikman, Professor, Author, Researcher and Metabolic Scientist
Simon Wieser, Professor at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Lars Hartenstein, Director of Healthy Longevity at the McKinsey Health Institute

If you want to be part of it, whether as a partner, a pilot host or a voice from a sector we haven't yet heard from, we'd love to hear from you.

FOOD FOUNDERS Studio raises €4 million to build FoodTech companies around the industry’s most important unmet needs

"The foodtech market has learned a hard lesson: a promising technology is only the beginning. You need a problem the industry cares enough to solve, technology you can build a business around, and the right people to take it into the market. We bring those pieces together when the company is created. The customer is already there, giving the solution a bigger chance of success and impact,” said Giacomo Cattaneo, CEO and co-founder of FOOD FOUNDERS Studio.

The studio has already scouted more than 100 technologies and advanced nine to validation before launching SentiaNova, its first venture. Built on neutral plant protein technology licensed from a European university, SentiaNova stands out by directly removing unwanted off-flavors at the source rather than only masking them. The studio recruited a CEO and now the company has made samples available, engaged the market, and is working toward commercial production while closing its own funding round – all within only a year of launch.

The €4 million round will fund the studio’s next ventures and the work of identifying and securing the technologies behind them. FOOD FOUNDERS Studio is recruiting a CEO and co-founder for its second company and securing the science that its next companies will be built on. 

It is also expanding its search for technologies to startups and corporate R&D teams who cannot take them forward. The Studio will assess those opportunities against the same industrial, technical, and commercial criteria it applies to university research. 

“A technology can be technically strong and still lack a route into the food industry. We want to find that technology wherever it sits, secure what is needed to build on it, and put the right team around the opportunities that meet a tangible industry need,” added Alexandre Morel, CTO and co-founder of FOOD FOUNDERS Studio.

The round was backed by family offices and angel investors. 

Food companies and manufacturers can contact industry@foodfounders.studio with problems they need solved. Researchers, founders and corporate R&D teams can contact tech@foodfounders.studio about relevant technologies.

The public vote concludes: 7 innovative projects nominated for the final of Clima Now

Public voting for the Clima Now Spotlight ideas competition took place from 7 to 21 September. The results are now in. 

From the 14 ideas that made it to the "Wall of Fame," the public selected seven projects for the final. 

On 29 October, these teams will present their ideas to an audience and a jury at the Spotlight Pitch Night.

All seven nominated projects demonstrate practical, innovative approaches that combine climate resilience with local value creation.

The finalists of the 2026 Clima Now Spotlight come from fields such as protein- and mushroom-based foods, soil-regenerative agriculture, and collaborative production and infrastructure development. 

The focus is on scalable local production models and strengthening regional supply chains and cooperation among producers.

Climate change is fundamentally altering the conditions for food production, not just in Switzerland, but globally. For Switzerland, this means we must find new solutions for how we grow, produce, and consume our food in the future. At Clima Now, we want to foster these solutions and provide a platform for them through Spotlight," says Corinne Grässle, Managing Director of Clima Now

Meet the 7 nominated projects

1) Food Production Hub Basel: shared infrastructure for regional production.

The Food Production Hub Basel creates a shared production infrastructure for regional food producers, thereby facilitating processing, scaling, and collaboration. Through shared resources, regional raw materials can be processed into market-ready products, strengthening regional value creation.

"Our hub lowers barriers to local production and strengthens the link between regional producers and the market."

2) FungiHub: the mushroom farming model for Switzerland.

In Switzerland, most specialty mushrooms come from a few large-scale producers or imports, losing freshness in the days before they reach the retail market. Independent mushroom farms are expensive to set up, direct sales remain local, and distribution costs eat into already tight margins. 

FungiHub’s solution is a "satellite model": a central hub supplies substrates, know-how, and proven infrastructure, while each satellite operation handles local production and sales.

"With FungiHub, we are creating local cycles and feeding the region sustainably." 

3) Mokä: bringing Swiss legumes into institutional catering.

Mokä develops crushed lentil blends that make using Swiss legumes in institutional catering simple and versatile. The products have already proven successful in practice. 

Now, the team aims to transition from small-scale artisanal production to professional, scalable manufacturing—with the goal of permanently establishing Swiss lentils in the institutional catering sector. 

"We demonstrate that climate-friendly dining can be enjoyable and practical for everyday life, even on a large scale."

4) Raptrac: innovative technology for soil-friendly agriculture

Raptrac develops lightweight, multifunctional implement carriers for soil-friendly and water-conscious agriculture. The systems automate sustainable cultivation methods for vegetable farming as well as specialty and broad-acre crops. Through minimal soil compaction, precise field operations, and autonomous modes of operation, Raptrac supports more resilient production systems that use fewer resources and pesticides.

"With Raptrac, we are strengthening agriculture's resilience to climate extremes."

5) Symactiv: Soil-regenerating pellets for climate-resilient agriculture.

Symactiv transforms Swiss mushroom waste into a 100% organic pellet containing billions of microorganisms that can be applied just like fertilizer. It mimics forest soil, builds humus, and stores CO₂ in the ground. This makes agriculture and our cities more climate-resilient: 17% higher yields, 20% better water retention to combat drought stress, and 50% less disease.

"We don’t fertilise plants; we regenerate the soil they grow in." 

6) Luya: fermented power from Swiss legumes.

The Swiss food-tech company Luya aims to produce fermented tempeh from regional legumes, offering a climate-friendly alternative to imported protein sources. The project fosters local value chains and reduces emissions through shorter transport routes—resulting in delicious, natural products for a more climate-friendly Swiss diet.

"We want to show that culinary enjoyment and climate protection can go hand in hand in Swiss cuisine."

7) The Shift Permaculture & The Shift Collective: scalable solutions for humus-building agriculture.

The Shift Permaculture is developing a humus-based cultivation method that combines highly microbially active humus composts with dynamic agroforestry polycultures. As part of the participatory "The Shift Collective" model, the project explores, tests, and disseminates this methodology to build humus-rich soil, produce wholesome food, and simultaneously create resilient ecosystems.

"We are developing a form of agriculture that builds soil rather than depleting it—for healthy soil, healthy plants, and healthy people."

"Spotlight Pitch Night": And the winner is...?

The big moment arrives on October 29. At the Clima Now Spotlight Pitch Night at Kraftwerk Zürich, each finalist team will present their solution to an expert jury in just four minutes. 

The jury evaluates the projects based on criteria such as climate impact, scalability, level of innovation, and feasibility. At the end of the evening, they will crown the Spotlight winning team for 2026.

In addition to a public choice award worth 5,000 francs and substantive support from Spotlight partners, the following attractive cash prizes will be awarded:

• 1st place: 50,000 francs
• 2nd place: 25,000 francs
• 3rd place: 10,000 francs

Martin Meili, co-founder and President of the Board of Trustees of Clima Now and a member of the Spotlight jury, is looking forward to the Spotlight Pitch Night:

"For several months, the jury has been intensively reviewing the submitted projects, and we are thrilled by their quality. Ultimately, we unfortunately have to choose just one project. However, in my view, all the teams that participated in the 6th Spotlight ideas competition are winners. I wish them continued perseverance and success."

Valley partner Insolight powers Switzerland’s largest agri-PV project

In Lovatens, Romande Energie, Insolight and organic blueberry producer Olivier Pichonnat have inaugurated Switzerland’s largest agri-photovoltaic installation to date, combining crop protection and renewable energy production on the same land. The new installation, officially inaugurated in the presence of Vaud State Councillors Valérie Dittli and Isabelle Moret, is the first of its kind in the canton of Vaud and the largest agri-PV project built in Switzerland so far.

Developed through a collaboration between farmer Olivier Pichonnat, Vaud-based technology company Insolight and Romande Energie, the installation protects 1.8 hectares of organic blueberries while generating around 2,400 MWh of renewable electricity each year – equivalent to the annual consumption of approximately 955 households. The project provides a practical example of how agricultural innovation, climate resilience and the energy transition can work hand in hand.

Helping agriculture adapt to a changing climate

Extreme weather events are becoming an increasing challenge for farmers. Heatwaves, drought, hail, heavy rain and late frosts can all affect crop quality and yields.

The Lovatens installation was designed to help address these challenges. Built on Olivier Pichonnat’s organic farm, its photovoltaic canopy provides greater protection for the blueberry plants while simultaneously producing renewable energy.

The benefits became particularly clear during the hot summer of 2026. While some exposed crops suffered significant damage, the blueberries growing beneath the agri-PV structure benefited from more favourable conditions, helping to limit sun damage, interrupted growth and dehydration.

Vaud State Councillors Valérie Dittli, responsible for agriculture, sustainability and climate, and Isabelle Moret, responsible for economy, innovation, employment and heritage, attended the inauguration. The project reflects the canton’s interest in solutions that can simultaneously support farmers in adapting to climate change, expand renewable energy production and contribute to the regional economy.

A Vaud innovation with broader potential 

The system consists of 5,220 photovoltaic modules installed above the blueberry crops on a structure specifically adapted to the needs of the farm.

Positioned 3.2 metres above the ground, the panels allow Olivier Pichonnat to continue working with his existing agricultural machinery and largely maintain his usual farming practices. At the same time, the structure provides protection against hail, frost, heavy rainfall and periods of extreme heat.

“Given the weather extremes we have experienced over the past few years as a result of climate change, it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to imagine a future without better protection for my crops,” explains Olivier Pichonnat. “With Insolight’s Insolagrin agri-PV solution, we were able to take into account both the agricultural challenges and the specific needs of my farm, adapting the installation to blueberry production and the way I work. At the same time, it allows me to play an active role in the energy transition. Combined with Romande Energie’s contracting model, I can look to the future with greater confidence while contributing to the transition towards renewable energy.”

Combining crop protection with food and energy resilience

Designed and built by Valley partner Insolight, the installation demonstrates how agri-photovoltaics can be implemented at scale while meeting the practical requirements of professional agriculture.

Drawing on experience from projects carried out together with leading agronomic research institutes, Insolight combines technical and agricultural expertise to address some of the key barriers to deploying agri-PV systems. The company supports projects from regulatory procedures through to commissioning, with the aim of creating installations that protect both crops and farmers’ long-term livelihoods.

The Lovatens project also highlights the potential synergies between agricultural policy, climate adaptation and renewable energy development.

Making large-scale implementation possible

Romande Energie financed the installation and will operate and maintain it for the next 30 years.

The contracting model enables farmers to benefit from innovative crop protection and new sources of income without having to finance the infrastructure themselves. Romande Energie also manages the sale of the solar electricity produced and its integration into the energy system, taking responsibility for investment, operations and exposure to an increasingly complex electricity market.

By bringing together Insolight’s agronomic innovation, Olivier Pichonnat’s farming expertise and Romande Energie’s energy capabilities, the project offers a promising model for how agriculture and renewable energy production can be developed side by side – creating value for farmers, the energy system and society.