LSN : News : This aroma detector aims to eliminate food waste

Peas of Heaven invites its customers to ‘grow’ sausages

Peas of Heaven campaign by Forsman & Bodenfors, UK

Sweden – The plant-based meat brand is running a novel campaign to encourage more people to enjoy its faux meats. Tuning into the growing adoption of home-grown produce, the brand is encouraging its customers to exchange their peas for sausages.

The campaign, by creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors, presents a grow-your-own-sausage kit consisting of pea seeds, instructions and a bag for consumers to send back their peas in. Highlighting the versatility of plant-based foods, the brand allows customers to choose between chorizo, barbecue sausage or cabanossy varieties of sausage.

Julia Holtback Yeter, art director at Forsman & Bodenfors, said: ‘With this idea, we take a hands-on approach to plant-based comfort food.’ The brand also notes that – while it’s not the quickest way to access sausages – the campaign hopes to shed light on the process behind creating plant-based foods. In a similar vein, we’ve previously explored how ingredient brand Merchant Gourmet is promoting vegan diets through its cookbook with a plantable cover.

Strategic opportunity

Some consumers still feel confused about the ingredients that go into alternative proteins. Food brands could create educational courses and product kits to bridge this gap in knowledge

This aroma detector aims to eliminate food waste

Snoot by Harriet Almond, UK

UK – While food expiry dates can provide a rough guide for food freshness, Harriet Almond, a graduate from Northumbria University, is seeking to further reduce food waste through an aroma detector. Almond’s prototype, Snoot, consists of two parts: a hand-held sensor resembling a snout and a small mouth-shaped printer that offers recipe suggestions developed by a zero-waste chef.

In its current prototype phase, the device can only detect organic compounds released by bananas, apples, potatoes and a range of other fruit and vegetables as they decay. Future iterations of Snoot could work with a variety of other foods. Here, this project empowers everyday consumers to make better decisions about the foods they deem ripe for consumption.

‘There is a big gap in knowledge around freezing and defrosting food safely, how long it should be frozen for and what food is suitable,’ says Almond. ‘Snoot aims to aid this gap in understanding by providing exact instructions on how to freeze food safely.’ Such a solution also aligns with the growing number of innovations emerging to curb food waste.

Strategic opportunity

Food suppliers must take greater responsibility in educating consumers about food freshness and zero-waste solutions. Why not host in-store workshops and educational sessions for customers?

White Claw’s latest billboard is cooling down Londoners

London – Recognising the impact of the UK’s unprecedented heatwave, the hard seltzer brand is inviting Londoners to cool down with its interactive billboard. The temporary billboard, which was installed in Shoreditch for two weeks, features specially designed cooling strips, heat-proof paint and touch-activated gel-centred cooling mats that work by absorbing the body heat of people interacting with the board.

Taking a playful approach, the brand is also inviting people to hug the mural to reduce their high body temperatures. Its striking visual design is also intended to draw in passers-by through its ‘icy cool waves’. Michael Dean, head of marketing at White Claw UK, says: ‘With record-breaking temperatures, we wanted to give Londoners a much-needed moment of light refreshment… what better way to cool them down than with a White Claw in hand and a billboard that will absorb all heat?’

While this campaign provides temporary respite from extreme weather conditions, it also points to a future when brands will increasingly adapt their campaigns to benefit the people and surroundings where they’re advertising. Elsewhere, we’ve previously explored how beer brand Coors developed advertising that benefits the built environment.

White Claw, UK

Strategic opportunity

Thinking beyond one-off activations, consider how your brand might develop infrastructure solutions that benefit the world’s changing climates?

Stat: Gen Z tourists seek familiar destinations

Parallel Reality by Delta Air Lines and Misapplied Sciences, US

At a time when many citizens are still finding their feet when returning to travel experiences, members of Generation Z are seeking comfort in familiar destinations. Research by YouGov reveals that Gen Z are more likely than other groups to revisit familiar destinations, with 40% agreeing they usually go back to the same places on holiday.

The research also noted that 43% of Gen Z travellers seek experiences for social media content. More generally, 44% of Gen Z say they will be spending more on travel in the next year, compared with other leisure time activities. These figures should provide inspiration for tourism marketers, who can target young people through campaigns that celebrate nostalgia.

To discover more insights about the travel behaviours of Generation Z, delve into our viewpoint with youth-driven travel collective Trippin.

Strategic opportunity

Given the preference for familiar destinations, travel brands could consider running campaigns that focus on young people’s favourite holiday memories, photos and souvenirs