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Dutch Design Week 2024: Food as a catalyst for connection

Board of Dinner by Deep Food and Joseph Wan, The Netherlands

Good food should be a public good by Public Food and De Vormforensen, The Netherlands

MS.BIBIMCHILLIKAAS by Spicy Bites, The Netherlands

The Netherlands – Food is often used to explore broader topics and Dutch Design Week 2024 saw artists and designers using it to encourage empathy and connection towards each other and the environment.

The theme for the Embassy of Food’s exhibition was Redesigning Food Relationships. Food justice organisation Public Food opened a free vending machine to spark conversations around food insecurity, stating that ‘one in seven Dutch citizens suffer from some form of food insecurity.’ Looking to newer technologies, Mock Wild by Zack Denfeld used artificial intelligence to rethink our approach to sustainable, healthy eating. As part of the project, the MVP x FFF Food Computer took into account harvest dates and user preferences to create seasonal and sustainable nutritious recipes.

The Board of Dinner by Deep Food and Joseph Wan used a recipe generator to explore how explainable AI (XAI) can foster empathy through food. By making the AI’s decision-making process transparent and controllable, the project positioned AI as a collaborative, relatable tool that helps users understand and appreciate different culinary traditions. It encouraged empathy by using food as a bridge between cultures, demonstrating how AI can facilitate deeper connections and cultural exchange through the shared experience of eating.

Another installation using AI came from Spicy Bites, a collective of students from Design Academy Eindhoven and Hongik University. They presented MS.BIBIMCHILLIKAAS, an installation where users could generate absurd AI recipes to mimic the ‘diasporic experience of transformation that we experience through food.’ Similarly, Eindhoven culinary collective To Be Cooked presented Food Untold, a street stand encouraging non-EU artists to share and serve recipes from their hometowns. The installation questioned how our culinary pasts affect our current values and if food can be a driver for cultural awareness.

Stay tuned for our round-up of Dutch Design Week 2024.

Strategic opportunity

Food brands can harness AI to experiment with new flavours and ingredients, blend different cultural traditions in innovative ways and create products that resonate with globally-minded consumers who are seeking unique, tradition-infused experiences

Tesco’s bold play with new logo-free campaign

ICONS for Tesco, created by BBH London, UK

UK – Tesco’s latest Icons campaign replaces the British supermarket’s logo with food photography. The first letter of each photographed ingredient spells Tesco, featuring items such as a tomato, an éclair, spring onions, a coconut and oyster mushrooms.

Creative agency BBH London created the campaign to emphasise Tesco’s strong brand equity, trusting that the supermarket’s blue chevrons and ‘Every little helps’ tagline will be instantly recognisable. ‘You need to have icon status to be able to play with your logo with such confidence,’ says BBH deputy executive creative director Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes. The eye-catching billboards have been placed in high-traffic areas, including at London train stations.

At a time when many people are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis, Tesco’s billboards emphasise its everyday products, creating a visually engaging reminder of the brand’s value to shoppers.

Strategic opportunity

Companies with strong brand identity, such as Tesco, can experiment with minimalist logos and visuals, signalling confidence and reinforcing consumer trust during uncertain economic times

Foresight Friday: Seyi Oduwole, foresight analyst

Zalando and Adidas

Every Friday, The Future Laboratory team offers an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, foresight analyst Seyi Oduwole dives into the latest generational news.

: I'm currently obsessed with all things Gen Alpha. Gone are the days when parents dictated their children’s tastes, and this Wall Street Journal article highlights how much sway the cohort has on their parents’ finances. As discussed in our Back-to-School Alphas report, Gen Alpha are wise beyond their years. The Sephora kids and fragheads are alright!

: A newly released The State of Community report by Tumblr and Archival, shows that 62% of Gen Z believe ‘when it comes to social media, there is too much media and not enough social’, highlighting the importance of social togetherness and the growth of in-person meet-ups, a shift we discussed in our Gen Z Dating Futures market report.

: As the cost of living crisis rages on, it seems the generations that were once considered least affected are now feeling the struggle. Boomers are more likely ‘to hold two jobs’ than Gen Z, retirees are starting to ‘unretire’ and enter the workforce and Gen X are now being seen as the struggling ‘middle child’ due to the responsibility of balancing retirement and paying for adult children. Brands need to be aware of these ever-evolving life stages in these tumultuous times.

Quote of the Week

‘When I think about Victoria’s Secret and how it all relates to #MeToo, I think about how charming and naive it is to think that corporate rebranding can make us think we’ve moved past the sexual violence of the last few decades. That girls are empowered, that we can move on, that we can heal together, our past traumas made null by the power of buying shit. By becoming Angels’

Sophie Kemp on Ssense

Stat: Gen Z continue to ditch alcoholic beverages

The New Bar, US

US and Canada – As the holiday season approaches, beverage manufacturers are responding to the growing demand for innovative drink options, especially from the newest generation of legal drinkers. In a recent video interview with Beverage Industry, Justin Solomon, category marketing director for alcoholic beverages at ADM, highlighted the shifting landscape in alcohol consumption.

Following the pandemic, many people continued the habit of eating and drinking at home, prompting brands to rethink their offerings. One of the most significant shifts has been the rise of non-alcoholic alternatives. According to Solomon, a large percentage of Gen Z are opting for wellness-driven choices. ‘Among legal drinking age Gen Z, 54% of US consumers and 44% of Canadians reported not consuming alcohol in the last six months,’ he notes.

This trend is driving innovation in beverage alcohol categories, with a growing focus on developing non-alcoholic versions of popular drinks. As Gen Z prioritises long-term health, beverage brands are reimagining their portfolios to cater to this new generation of wellness-conscious consumers, a topic we explore further in Sober Bars and No-lo Taste Lifts.

Strategic opportunity

Although Gen Z often don’t want alcoholic beverages, they’re keen to not be left out. Consider how your brand can recreate and preserve the social environment that comes with drinking while providing alcohol-free alternatives