Today, young people all over the world are on strike and demanding a climate emergency. For weeks, they have been scaring companies and politicians with this action. In Zurich, Lukas Böni from "Planted" will also be taking part. He himself has long since started to rethink with his start-up.
With vegan meat to third place
(Still) as expensive as organic chicken
The stage is set for success: Climate change has never been such a ubiquitous topic as it is now, especially among the young. Thanks to the global climate strike or the 16-year-old young activist Greta Thunberg, who campaigned against climate change even before the UN, large companies are being forced to rethink. "Planted" can capitalise on this momentum.
When I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.
"Planted" wants to sell plant-based chicken meat for the first time in early summer. Pea protein and other vegetable proteins and fibres are the basis for the product, which has a surprisingly similar structure to chicken. A lot of tinkering went into it. Two food scientists developed it, while economist and co-founder Pascal Bieri takes care of the commercial side at "Planted". "We're helping to protect the environment by emitting much less CO2, wasting less water and using less land," says Pascal Bieri as he fries up a frying pan full of "Planted Chicken". We have arranged to meet at the "Bellavista" restaurant at ETH. He is presenting the "Planted Chicken" there exclusively for the invited guests of a start-up competition and cooking it himself.
Pascal Bieri and his two co-founders want to creatender want to shake up the food market with «Planted»
Shortly before, "Planted" took third place in the competition in the next room. Ten start-ups competed and presented their products in a three-minute pitch. The audience and a panel of experts were then able to judge the presentations. The predominant topic: sustainability. Sustainable insulation materials, sustainable concrete and sustainable food. The aim of "Planted": to find partners from the catering and food sector for the next big step. "We will probably aim for a financing round from autumn this year," says Bieri.
"So far, we have received 150,000 francs through the ETH Pioneer Fellowship. The whole company originated from my Master's thesis," says the third co-founder Eric Stirnemann as he fills sliced baguettes with vegetables, sauce and pieces of meat. "It's the absolute trend at the moment. Eating an environmentally conscious, vegetarian diet without sacrificing the bite and fibrous texture of meat." Similar start-ups from the USA have received hundreds of millions in funding from well-known investors, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Google. These companies imitate beef, while "Planted" focuses on chicken and wants to stand out from the crowd.
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For the time being, "Planted Chicken" is not yet available in the chiller cabinet. "We want to supply a few restaurants in May and see how it goes," says businessman Pascal. This ensures that products are always available. "If we were to go into the retail trade right at the start, there could be nasty surprises. We don't have the capacity for that yet," Eric points out. At the start of sales in restaurants, "Planted" is likely to be as expensive as organic chicken meat. The more successful it is, the cheaper the product will become over time.
Eric, Lukas and Pascal from Planted (from left to right)
