In February 2019, Unilever’s Knorr unveiled The Future 50 Foods, a report written in partnership with WWF detailing 50 of the plant-based foods that people should be eating more of, for both health and the health of the planet.
The initiative has been recognised by world-leading organisations, including The United Nations, NGOs, and the Food & Land Use Coalition (FOLU) and 350 of the world’s most influential chefs in the 12 months since its launch.
United Nations
The Future 50 Foods has also been recognised for addressing the United Nations ‘Zero Hunger’ Sustainable Development Goal 2.0, with Knorr invited to address the FOLU event during the United Nations General Assembly.
The 350 chefs have pledged to showcase the wealth of under-utilised plant-based ingredients highlighted by The Future 50 Foods in their future menus.
The report has been held up by the World Economic Forum, FOLU and Chefs’ Manifesto as a force for good in promoting bio and dietary diversity.
Knorr has pledged to commit to increase the number of products featuring Future 50 Foods by 25%. Meanwhile, foodservice business Sodexo has committed to introducing Future 50 Foods ingredients into 5,000 kitchens across workplaces and organisations in the US, France, Belgium and the UK. It plans to roll them out to a further ten countries this year.
Retail engagement
Supermarket giant Carrefour has committed to introducing Future 50 Foods stations with dish ideas and package-free ingredient dispensers to encourage customers to get more environmentally conscious with their cooking.
The initiative has also seen a programme introduced in Indonesia in partnership with the government and local NGOs to tackle major nutrition imbalances in the country, while in Mexico more than 900 teachers have been educated in using Future 50 Foods ingredients. A partnership between Knorr, WWF and smallholder farmers in drought-struck regions in South Africa is seeing more viable and sustainable indigenous Future 50 Foods crops, such as fonio and Bambara groundnuts, being widely cultivated.
“The depressing global environmental and health challenges faced by humanity today seem to many to be impossible to overcome, but at Knorr we believe that food is the single most powerful way to improve our health and the health of the planet,” said April Redmond, global brand VP, Knorr, and a forever food champion.
“By 2025 we commit to increasing the number of Knorr products featuring Future 50 Foods by 25%. Over the next two years, 25 new Future 50 Foods-based products will launch across our top 10 countries, with much of that innovation coming out of the Hive, Unilever’s new €85m innovation centre in the Netherlands.”
