Member - Beelong Sàrl

Why Beelong? We all belong to the same planet. With 30% of damage to the environment generated in Switzerland by food, caterers and players in the food industry (producers, transformers, distributors, etc.) have a crucial role to play. Whether in terms of CO2 emissions, pollution, impact on climate and biodiversity, waste or even working conditions and food safety, the choices made each day by professionals in relation to food have major consequences.

Due to the volumes of meals served each day by restaurants, whether institutional or commercial, the entire branch must assume certain responsibilities in respect to their partners, customers and the environment. But to purchase and/or consume more sustainably and reduce the impact of food on our planet, we must have access to clear information on the products.

This is why our mission is to promote transparency on the food market by evaluating food products and communicating their environmental impact simply, on the basis of 5 groups of criteria.

Initially created on the campus of the École hôtelière de Lausanne and kicked off by the 1st Prize in the HES-SO 2103 Genilem competition for its innovative and applied aspects, Beelong is now a four years old small company that attempts to answer to an essential question:

how to choose food products that are more environmentally friendly? How to help the professional buy on the basis of criteria other than price, quality or packaging?

Today, we work with more than 120 firms in the catering industry and since 2017, seeing the market’s increasing interest and caterers’ new demands for greater transparency and sustainability, we expanded our services for food product brands and distributors. The indicator enables the evaluation of the catering's supply as well as the distributors/food industry's assortment.

The evaluation focuses on the ecological impact and is based on 5 main groups of criteria:

(1)The provenance of the agricultural product,

(2)Mode of production,

(3)The season,

(4)The impact on climate and natural resources,

(5) Product transformation.

For the catering industry, the evaluation is followed up by consulting & training services to raise awareness, among the cooks, on the impact of food on our planet and to seek for applied measures based on their supply's evaluation. We see great open-mindedness and willingness in the catering industry to act more responsibly and strive for a sustainable food system. Therefore, we are looking forward to the realisation of the potential for change in this sector.