Being new in a country is difficult. Food is a great icebreaker, but how do you even enter these contexts in an effortless way? At the same time, many brilliant chefs are overworked, underpaid and rarely recognized for their time and effort. Stockholm-based foodtech startup Bestick wants to marry these two problems with a smooth …
The power grid’s numerous substations require large amounts of hardware components and metals such as copper. Gothenburg-based EcoPhi was born out of CEO and founder Ebrahim Balouji’s research at Chalmers University of Technology, and today the company offers a combination of harmonizing hardware and AI-driven software. The aim is to digitalize the power system in …
Hydrogen is increasingly important for the energy transition. But it’s still expensive to produce it without fossil fuels. Rutvika Acharya is co-founder and CEO at Caplyzer, aiming to change that equation. By developing a new generation of electrolyzers, Caplyzer wants to make a real impact in the world of hydrogen. Heja Framtiden has a paid …
Relationships and storytelling are keys to fixing the food system. At least according to Fiji-based Karen Mapusua, Director of the Land Resources Division at The Pacific Community, enabling collaboration and technology transfer between 22 countries and territories in the Pacific Ocean. She is also president of the IFOAM Organics International World Board. What are the …
Heja Framtiden has a paid collaboration with Stockholm Business Region and the newly instated Stockholm ImpACT Days, where Re:Think Food is the theme for 2025. The week was kicked off by Big Meet, Sweden Foodtech’s yearly conference, this time at Rosendals Trädgård on Royal Djurgården in Stockholm. In the kitchen, we met with Sabi Nazarian, …
What are some of the most important lessons if you want to build a successful global brand from scratch? Swedish TV host, comedian, singer and writer Gina Dirawi decided to embark on an entirely new adventure when she started building her brand ZËIYT, developing olive oil products for skin and hair care. To boost the …
The iPhone production demands plenty of rare resources, but the product lifespan is often cut short because of minor deficiencies, which leads to tons of unnecessary e-waste and carbon emissions. The Finnish company Swappie aims to give iPhones a second or third chance in the hands of consumers. After nine years of operations, it has …
Technology is often said to disconnect us from one another, but there are exceptions. Sean Rogg is an artist and futurist who continually explores how human emotions, empathy, and connection can be triggered, manipulated, and deepened through technology and collaboration. By making the audience an integral part of his experiments, he has broken away from …
Stephanie Melodia is a London-based keynote speaker, podcast host, marketing consultant and former startup founder. Her work revolves around entrepreneurship in general, and gender equality in the startup scene is an important topic. Heja Framtiden met her after a keynote at the Women in Tech conference in Stockolm, where she took shots at the powerful …
Is a prosperous future within our planetary boundaries still possible? Sandrine Dixson-Declève was co-president of the think tank Club of Rome 2018-2024 and is now serving as executive chair at Earth 4 All, a collective of scientists, economists and advocates aiming to craft policies within a framework called Transformational Economics. Heja Framtiden met Sandrine at …
What impact can a single company make when it comes to social sustainability among its third scope suppliers, scattered across the globe? This is exactly the question Wendy Savage struggles with daily as Senior Director of Social Impact and Transparency at the outdoor fashion brand Patagonia. In this conversation at Norrsken House in Stockholm, she …
Will the foodtech sector recover from its recent challenges? According to Matthieu Vincent from Digital Food Lab in Paris, it depends on access to capital, longterm thinking and the development of cheap, renewable energy. Some apparent trends are that many foodtech startups are moving from B2C to B2B, from building a consumer brand to crafting …
Estefania Simon-Sasyk is the founder of Mycelium Gastronomy Network, a global consultancy bent on driving the sustainable food systems transformation through education, collaboration and creativity. Some of their clients are billion-dollar enterprices, curiously exploring product development, regenerative practices and novel foodtech innovations. Heja Framtiden mer Estefania at the Spot on Food conference in Kristianstad, fall …
Circular economy may seem like common sense – why waste resources when we could reuse them for something else? Well, it’s apparently difficult to conduct circular business practices in a linear system. Ken Webster served as innovation manager at Ellen MacArthur Foundation during its formative years, and many look to him as one of the …
The seafood industry produces 10 million tons of waste each year. What would happen if that could be put to use in new products and innovations? That question is a big part of the driving force behind Iceland Ocean Cluster, a network of 70 companies within the icelandic blue economy. Thor Sigfusson is founder and …
”VR has not taken off”. That was the theme of VR entrepreneur Antti Martikainen’s talk att the XR Hack conference in Stockholm at Epicenter. But the word that follows is usually ”yet”. Antti runs the company Virtual Dawn in Finland, and in this episode he talks about the opportunities ahead for the emerging industry and …
Seaweed is an amazing product – it can be used everything from food to cosmetics, furniture and feed, while actually cleaning the oceans and act as a carbon sink when it grows. Gothenburg-based startup Koastal is building a franchise network of independent seaweed farmers (usually current fishermen) in order to create a new, regenerative ecosystem …
From record numbers in 2021, agrifoodtech investments have plummeted – right when capital is needed more than ever. Louisa Burwood-Taylor is Head of News and Research at the venture capital and research platform Agfunder. Heja Framtiden met Louisa at the foodtech conference Big Meet in Stockholm, to discuss the investment landscape in agtech and foodtech. …
Why is mycelium – basically mushroom roots – so interesting for the future of food? Well, because it’s nutricious, rich in umami and grows extremely fast. Philip Tigges runs the company Infinite Roots in Germany and has great plans for its expansion. Recently, he and his team secured a funding round of staggering 58 million …
Wildfires are becoming increasingly common in a world struggling with climate change – and they sadly also make the situation even worse. Kseniya Lenarciak is CEO at Sly, a startup based in Italy and San Francisco, with a mission to detect and mitigate wildfires using sensors, AI and a software platform. Through their solution, land …
Johanna Hoffman is an American urbanist, researcher, writer, and co-founder of the agency Design for Adaptation. She uses speculative futures and speculative design practices to craft imagination, playfulness and a deeper, sensory understanding of what the future might bring, especially when it comes to the cities of the future. We met Johanna at a Speculative …
The paper industry is not only a huge emitter of greenhouse gases, it also uses plenty of water, bleach and chemicals to manufacture their products. Roel Schatorjé wants to challenge this situation with MOYU, a Dutch startup producing notebooks with paper made from rocks – or, to be exact, rest products from the marble industry. The pages can …
The role of the sustainability manager is increasingly complex, especially in a global operation with a vast web of supply chains and a commitment to the Science Based Targets. Vanessa Butani is Vice President Sustainability at Electrolux Group, overseeing an organisation with 51,000 employees and yearly sales of 60 million household products on 120 markets. Sounds like a …
David Shing is commonly known as Shingy, a digital prophet, brand consultant and keynote speaker on trends, marketing, social media and consumer behavior. Shingy has a long history from AOL, one of the giants of the internet revolution. Heja Framtiden met him after his keynote in Stockholm at the Årets Marknadschef (marketing manager of the year) awards in an …
Have we been measuring the wrong things when we develop buildings and cities? Lone Feifer is Head of sustainable buildings at VELUX Group, a Danish company essentially producing windows that allow for more daylight and better indoor climate. But there is also an important sustainability factor in improving energy efficiency as well as human well-being. In this conversation, …
Perhaps humanity is like a teenager – still young and reckless? In that case, we might have many long and happy years ahead of us. Or we could make a bold move and end things too soon. Will MacAskill is a moral philosopher at the University of Oxford. He is also one of the most influential people …
Selina Juul is a well-known Danish food waste profile. She founded the Stop Wasting Food movement 15 years ago, and in this episode she spills the beans about how her professional journey has evolved together with the increased awareness of food waste as a major problem for both climate, economy and equity. Heja Framtiden met her shortly after …
Matt Homewood is a british biologist and food waste activist. He started exploring the concept of dumpster diving and was shocked to find that supermarkets were throwing away tons of edible food products every day. This encouraged him to start his Instagram account An Urban Harvester, where he posts photos of dumpster food waste from all over …
Framtiden i våre hender (Future in Our Hands) is a Norwegian environmental organisation founded almost 50 years ago. Today it has over 45 000 members and a strong focus is the topic of overconsumption in relation to climate, environment and human rights. We met briefly with Executive Director Anja Bakken Riise just minutes after her participation in Nordic Food …
Meat is a sensitive topic. While most people agree that the meat consumption today is unsustainable, there are many different opinions on where we go from here. Tara Garnett has a PhD in food systems analysis and is based at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford. She is also the director of Table, a collaborative …