Food: beautiful on the inside

Did you know that we waste 1.3 billion tonnes of food together, every single year? Besides, the amount of food which is wasted worldwide is a third of the total produced. Due to this shocking news, there have been different organisations and companies who are trying to reduce this huge amount of squandering by taking some measures.

The essence

In January this year, British supermarket chain Asda introduced imperfect fruit and vegetables encouraged by Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty. Asda created the ‘wonky veg box’ that include different fruits and vegetables which is enough to nourish a family of four for a whole week.

Asda’s Wonky Veg Box

Another example which is released a bit earlier is the Ugly Food Shop which is located in North Wales. The Ugly Food Shop is an initiative by students from the University of Bangor, who hope that the shoppers will adjust their opinion about imperfect food. They adopted the slogan ‘beautiful on the inside’, which is the main point according to their promotion.

 

Developments that matter

These examples are related to a few trends among the society of today. First of all, people receive more knowledge about every topic you can imagine, due to the digitalisation of the world. Therefore, it gradually makes people aware of the developments that occur in the entire world, for instance in the way that people are suffering from the lack of food in poor areas.

Also the food waste deserves a point of attention, therefore the initiatives like the Ugly Food Shop and the Wonky Veg Box are great examples of a flawsome marketing promotion. Just like highlighting the imperfections in people’s appearance, people want the same for food. Many fruit and vegetables are thrown away just because they have a few blemishes or nobbles on it. Nevertheless, nobody said that the appearance of food influences the taste, do they? It doesn’t have to be appealing to taste great is the main point they want to communicate.

”I’m beautiful on the inside” –  Ugly Food Shop

Changing into a more conscious policy is another much-discussed topic, as the consumer is willing to invest in a better world. As a result of these changes in mentality, the transparency is growing with it. The amount of people that is well-informed about the durability, waste and lack of food is increasing and therefore gradually creates an open world.

Future perspective

If such developments that create a better and honest world keep increasing, the world of tomorrow will be more beautiful than ever. When we all invest in our world, it will become endurable for every single nation. In the best case, the poor regions of today won’t have to deal with famine any more. That will be great, isn’t it?

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

https://theconversation.com/wonky-veg-and-ugly-fruit-are-making-a-comeback-heres-why-54606

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-31737280

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/asda-to-become-first-uk-supermarket-to-sell-wonky-veg-boxes-a6857856.html

 

LEGO City is taking it to the next level

For most children, LEGO City is a tremendous toy brand and especially not a concept which points out anything else than fun toys to play with. When I refer to my early childhood, I remember LEGO City as a nice brand, which had fake humans and that was it. However, they now revealed a new collection which includes a little twist.

A twist?

The new collection is titled ‘Fun in the park’ and shows the world how to turn off gender stereotyping. The entire collection is based on the society as we know it today, for instance the dad is staying at home and the mom is at her work. The collection was unveiled at the New York Toy Fair and will be launched in August this year.

Why is this surprising?

LEGO City is putting it forward, as it is tending to make a change in mentality. Other collections consisted of stereotyped toys, for instance the mother who was taking care of her child at home. SØren Torp Laursen, President of LEGO systems, stated that LEGO is listening to its consumer base and that they are willing to portray the world around us like it actually is. That means LEGO displays the toys like the real world. Moreover, this collection is a great example of the trend the open world, since it perfectly represents the transparency LEGO points out.

Furthermore, there is another example which appeared a bit earlier. The dolls from the famous brand Barbie also highlights the same value as LEGO does. Barbie created some new dolls in different shapes and sizes, since the society demands that size doesn’t matter.

Barbie dolls in different shapes and sizes

What will be next?

If even more toy brands will launch some more realistic collections, it can cause a difference in the future. Imagine that every brand only got collections based on the real world; the children of today will remember that everybody is different, but that’s okay. Eventually, the self-esteem of many children may improve just by such an adaption.

 What is your opinion about new adjustments in toy collections?

 

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2016/01/28/at-last-everything-is-awesome/#gref

http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/boulevard/lifestyle/eindelijk-een-vollere-barbie

 

http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/editienl/barbie-heeft-nu-heupen-moet-ken-een-bierbuikje-krijgen

http://www.psfk.com/2016/03/lego-gender-stereotypes-fun-in-the-park.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4vIEZJNmX0

 

Trace my fries

The main point

‘Trace my fries’ is an idea from Lamb Weston, a provider from frozen potatoes. He launched a website based on the fact that people want to know where their food comes from nowadays. ‘Trace my fries’ creates an opportunity for all consumers to receive more knowledge about the origin from a product. When sitting in a restaurant you receive a specific code which is related to the food you eat. This code can be filled in on the ‘trace my fries’ website, whereupon you precisely find the information about your ordered dish. Furthermore, the website offers producers customizable merchandise as an inspiration, such as go-to stickers, server training and chalkboards.

The ‘Trace My Fries’ page

 Why does it arise now?

Such an initiative does not appear spontaneously, as it refers to another mentality trend. In our society, distrust and anger is more and more shown owing to some incidents. Companies have been lying about product information, for instance in which circumstances the food has been produced. Due to this, people demand for more transparency and openness. Lamb Weston creates a way to be completely open about the origin of the potatoes, and people can look up very specific information about the food. For example, the areas where the potatoes are produced are highlighted and also some reasons why those areas are great places to produce potatoes. Different aspects of the benefits of the environment in the five regions in North America are being told in addition.

Lamb Weston is open about his origin of food, and also prefers a sustainable way of manufactering. According to this transparency, he made a video about the commitment to sustainability inside his company:

Continuation

If the trend transparency is putting it to the next level, it might cause a shift in the future. Due to an example as ‘trace my fries’, there won’t be any secrets among the food business in the hereafter. Also the credibility of companies may grow, since they are gathering some trust from the consumers by doing the controversy of what they abominate. Such a development can eventually result in a shift as regards the rivalry between companies. At the moment, many food businesses compete by highlighting the authenticity they have or create. In the future, authenticity may not be the point of discussion, yet the product origin is.  In that case, a company with the most transparent policy and the most honest and sustainable products will win the battle.

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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Sources:

http://www.lambweston.com/trace-my-fries

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/trace-my-fries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=UyqVwAN5aaM

 

 

 

Durable energy for lasting consumers

Over the last few years, many companies have been in the news due to different kind of scandals. You can think of a revelation of money which is snatched away or CEO’s that delivered false documents, and so on. Many citizens have been complaining about the reliability of such companies, and after all, I absolutely think that they have got that right!

The essence

After criticism, distrust and anger, companies are willing to make a change. A beautiful example is located in the United States of America. The DOE (Department of Energy) organised a better-building-challenge for the first time this year. The DOE invented a real life TV programme in which two companies, Whole Foods Market and Hilton Worldwide, are giving each other criticism and new opportunities to save more energy. They swap during the shows and are searching for points of improvement. ‘May the best HVAC win’ is the slogan. (HVAC means: heating, ventilation, air-conditioning)

 

Whole Foods Market and Hilton Worldwide in the better-building-challenge

The motives behind the story

There are a few reasons for such a (real life) TV show like this. As I said earlier, the different scandals that are revealed during the years is one of them. However, there are more grounds and changing motives. According to citizens, they gradually discover that many stories, documents, people and companies are not telling the truth. Everything can be based on a lie, and that is a thing we know nowadays. Because of disclosures, we become needy of a world that shows more openness, in which we all can be transparent. The consumer can actually see what the companies are doing and in which way they are saving more energy.  Nevertheless, the companies are being judged by each other, what is tending to be a great example of being sincere and transparent.

A bigger context

If we date back to a few earlier and larger trends, we can relate to digitisation and the way technology taught us to think for ourselves. Due to these trends, people like you and me were discovering more and more information about companies, for instance. As a matter of fact, technology made sure that if there is something revealed, people will share this on social media with the consequence that everybody will know it sooner. As an individual we can look up everything we want, at any time, at any place. All this is making the authorities less powerful and what is even more important…less of a ruler!

Beneath you can see the first episode, where Hilton Worldwide visits Whole Foods:

How it sequels

Companies are no longer trying to only tell the people they are of good willingness. The next step is to really show everybody how it is done, when it is done, where it is done and more of such questions. True transparency is the future, a world where secrets can not be hidden. But…. where does our privacy go?

What do you think of this topic?

 

See you next time,

Amy Melenboer ♥

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sources:

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3057043/watch-the-department-of-energys-earnest-kind-of-adorable-energy-efficiency-reality-show

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/HVAC.html

http://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/beat-blog/hilton-worldwide-swap-experience-teamwork-makes-all-difference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfkBti0H8ZU