Food waste transformed into interior design, urban farmers delivering their harvest directly to restaurants and frozen ready-made meals made from saved ingredients are the three winning projects of the 100% Circular Award 2021. Thereby designer Carolina Härdh, city farmer Klara Hansson from Stadsnära Odling, and entrepreneur Filip Lundin at Sopköket will have the opportunity to develop their ideas with the help of innovation support in the spring of 2022.
The 100% Circular Award is a future-oriented sustainability award- and innovation program that aims to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy and a sustainable restaurant industry.
The winners of the 100% Circular Award 2021 are:
- From food waste to interior design – Carolina Härdh, interior designer, Gothenburg
By digging where she stands, on the Swedish west coast, Carolina Härdh takes leftovers from restaurants and transforms them into interior details for the same industry. Through a relatively simple process oyster shells, mussel shells and fish bones are transformed into a durable material that in various forms and functions contributes to the guests’ overall experience, such as furniture, tables, and beautiful tactile surfaces. The concept is already realized on a small scale, but the process has the potential to be refined, streamlined, and scaled up. It can also serve as a source of inspiration for similar circular models that link other types of food waste and leftover materials from restaurants to other industries and businesses.
- Urban farming of vegetables for restaurants – Klara Hansson, project manager at Stadsnära odling at the Real Estate Office within the City of Gothenburg
The small-scale, organic model farm at Angered’s farm in Gothenburg has been run successfully for three years by city farmer Klara Hansson, with the aim of producing food and offering education. The farm is run according to the principles of market gardening, cultivating a piece of marginal land owned by the municipality. It is a model for growing in and near the city in unused areas, increasing the city’s degree of self-sufficiency and reducing transport. There are great opportunities to expand the project, as unused land areas in urban environments are common. The project is meticulously documented and can thus function as a model for similar projects in other parts of Sweden. The documentation represents a unique source of knowledge about how this type of farm can operate in the Swedish climate, labour market, food culture and market conditions. Calculations estimate the products’ possible sales channels, and what the financing looks like depending on the conditions.
- Frozen ready-made meals made from food waste – Filip Lundin at Restaurant Sopköket, Stockholm
The vision is a product line for consumers with frozen ready-made meals made from rescued ingredients from the food trade. The product line has a well-defined market profile as well as comprehensive packaging, indicating the of origin of the ingredients. Thanks to many years of experience creating meals for restaurants and catering events, Sopköket is in a strong position to realize their vision. Thanks to Sopköket’s experience and research in the field, and the large potential supply of food waste, the product range could be scaled up to a large volume. In addition, a functioning and financially sustainable model would serve as inspiration for similar products.
“The winners are examples of great ideas that can accelerate the transition to a healthier food system, both in restaurants and at home”, says Per Styregård, chairman of the jury. “We congratulate all three and look forward to supporting them further in realizing the projects. In a broader perspective, and what makes the jury’s work so exciting, is that the restaurant industry has only begun to understand its potential as a changemaker in the movement towards solving global food challenges.”
To win the award and benefit from the innovation support, the project must be relevant to the global sustainability goals and be both scalable and measurable. It should also have great potential for impact – thereby spreading the influence of the project to the rest of the restaurant industry as well as to consumers throughout the global food system.
White Guide will present the winners in more detail in January when they are matched with innovation support to move forward and realize their ideas in 2022. The lessons learned from the projects are followed up and published in articles to inspire more people in the restaurant industry to switch to a circular economy.
The 100% Circular Award was established in 2016 by White Guide and Stockholm Gas. The sustainability award is being developed into an innovation program in collaboration with Electrolux Professional and The Absolut Company together with representatives from the research and innovation sector like RISE – Research Institutes of Sweden, Ideon Innovation and Restaurangakademien.
Previous winners of 100% Circular:
• 2020/2021 Oaxen Krog, Rosendals Trädgård & Gunnebo Slott
• 2018/2019 Kalf & Hansen
• 2016/2017 Restaurant Volt
This is how 100% Circular works
Registration for the annual competition takes place during the autumn. In November, a number of finalists will be chosen by an expert jury. In December, the final winners will be presented. They will recieve six months of innovation support to take the next step and realize their project ideas.
100% Circular Jury:
• Per Styregård, Chairman of the jury, contributing writer and editor at White Guide and 12 Forward, DI Weekend and ICON Magazine.
• Jessica Engelbrecht, Communications Manager Stockholm Gas.
• Viktoria Roos, Leader for open innovation at Electrolux Professional.
• Ulrika Brydling, Chef and sustainability expert.
• Sofia B Olsson, Owner and chef Restaurant Vrå, named Sustainability Innovator of the Year 2018.
• Johan Gottberg - Sustainable Chef of the Year 2014, founder of the Restaurant Lab and K-märkt.
• Ingela Wickman Bois, Strategic advisor circular business development and innovation, Exeter Executive Business School & Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
• Jens Thulin, Small-scale farmer and co-founder of the digital marketplace Mylla Mat.
100% Circular Advisory Board:
The jury has access to experts in circular economy, sustainable development and special areas depending of the nature of the ideas. The Advisory Board is continuously supplemented with specific competence.
• Emma Troedsson, Business Developer Ideon Innovation.
• Britta Florén, Senior consultant on sustainable production and consumption and expert on the environmental impact of food, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.
• Lina Andersson Fasth, Business and project manager meal development, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.
• Jesper Johansson, CEO, Restaurangakademien.
• Jennie Walther, Nordic Marketing Manager, Electrolux Professional.
• Karin Ekroth, Sustainability & Corporate Communications, The Absolut Company.
• Rune Kalf Hansen, Owner and chef, Kalf & Hansen.
• Paul Svensson, Paul Taylor Lanthandel.
• Dheeraj Singh, Indian Street Food with a focus on sustainability.
• Fredrik Johnsson - Chairman Exceptionell Råvara, former owner and chef at restaurant Volt.
• Nidal Kersh, Restaurateur and owner of Falafelbaren and Pita.
• Erik Brandsma, CEO Sveaskog, former Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency and Head of Sustainability at the UN.
• Fia Gulliksson, Sustainability entrepreneur, Food In Action.
100% Circular is a future-oriented sustainability award and innovation programme that actively promotes and supports renewal projects from idea to realisation during six months. The lessons learned from the projects are followed-up and published in articles in order to inspire more restaurants to innovate and transition to the circular economy. The award was established in 2016 by White Guide and Stockholm Gas and is further developed into an innovation programme with Electrolux Professional and The Absolut Company in collaboration with representatives from the research and academy sector.
