Strong Partner – Compass Group (Switzerland) AG

Food for a Good Climate – Sustainability on Our Plates

The Eaternity Awards Whet the Appetite for Change

May 26, 2014. Rarely are pioneering achievements so tasty. And when can guests in gastronomy claim to be pioneers of a new era? At the ZHAW cafeteria on the Technikumstrasse campus in Winterthur, both come together. From today, guests there can enjoy a climate-friendly menu. CO₂ emissions are calculated daily with a sophisticated system. Menus marked with the Eaternity Awards save 50% CO₂ emissions compared to others.

Who knew: Around one third of all consumer-caused greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are due to food production. Conversely, this means that conscious nutrition can drastically reduce the CO₂ burden on our environment and sustainably protect our climate. Such nutrition is just as healthy as it is tasty, as the approximately 800 daily guests at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) cafeteria on the Technikumstrasse campus in Winterthur can now experience. They are paving the way for a responsible, sustainable, and still enjoyable lifestyle.

The initiators of this new way of eating include Eaternity, Compass Group (Switzerland) AG, and the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources at ZHAW in Wädenswil. The common goal is to give every guest the opportunity to make a personal contribution to improving our environmental balance with their daily menu.

Our Chefs Become Climate Heroes
"Eaternity aims to establish climate-friendly nutrition in society. The latest IPCC climate summit reports confirm that 'business as usual' is no longer an option. We must take new paths, and we see the gastronomy offering as a major lever," says Manuel Klarmann, CEO of Eaternity.

Representatives from politics and science are also convinced of sustainable nutrition:
"The goals and innovative solutions of Eaternity are an example for the economy of the future. They combine economic growth with a reduction in our resource consumption," says Bastien Girod, scientist and member of the National Council.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Dyllick, Professor at the Institute for Economy and Ecology at the University of St. Gallen, adds:
"What could be better? Enjoying food and doing something for the climate at the same time. I am pleased that Eaternity is showing us the way."

Starting with a Strong Partner
The Compass Group (Switzerland) AG provides meals daily to around 100,000 guests in schools, companies, homes, and hospitals. The company has been making great efforts for years to promote healthy and environmentally friendly nutrition. "The market is increasingly demanding solutions on the topic of sustainability. We at Compass Group want to support our customers in this. The CO₂ calculator from Eaternity now offers us a unique opportunity to make decisive progress on this path," says Hans Boesch, CEO of Compass Group (Switzerland) AG.

After an initial trial phase, Compass Group (Switzerland) AG wants to introduce CO₂ management as standard in all its restaurants and thus reduce CO₂ emissions by around 20 percent by 2020.

Research Group Investigates Climate Impact of Food
Together with Eaternity, the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources at ZHAW is investigating the greenhouse gas emissions of the foods used in the research project "CarbonFoodPrint," financially supported by the Gebert Rüf Foundation. The life cycles of the products – from production to consumption – are examined, and the resulting environmental impacts are quantitatively analyzed. These life cycle assessments make it possible to determine how much individual foods contribute to the CO₂ burden on our environment.

Matthias Stucki, research associate at the institute, explains: "If every person chose a climate-friendly menu three times a week, we could save more than one million tons of CO₂ per year in Switzerland. That's about as much CO₂ as the entire canton of Zurich causes through its electricity consumption."

About Compass Group (Switzerland) AG (www.compass-group.ch):
Compass Group (Switzerland) AG is part of Compass Group, one of the world's largest providers of catering and food services as well as facility services. The group includes four brands: Eurest, Scolarest, Medirest, and Eurest Services. The approximately 1,900 employees of Compass Group in Switzerland supply around 100,000 guests daily with meals in schools, companies, homes, and hospitals.

Food images and materials can be found here.

UPDATE Press coverage is available from Startwerk, Startupticker, Moneycab, Foodle, and Landbote Winterthur.

More about the project can be found on the project page: http://www.eaternity.com.