Fazer challenges emerging designers to tackle food waste in the RSA Young Design Awards

Fazer participates in the global RSA Young Design Awards by sponsoring a challenge about reducing food waste with the heading “Waste not, want not”.

The RSA Student Design Awards is a global curriculum and competition where designers are challenged to tackle real-world social, economic and environmental issues through design thinking. The goal is to empower a generation of savvy, employable designers who understand the potential of design to benefit society, and are able to use their design skills to do so. Last year, the participants came from 80 universities in 30 countries, including Finland.

“It is great to be part of this and be able to support young professionals while also inviting them to utilize their skills to create positive impacts in the world”, says Heli Arantola, SVP, Strategy and Renewal, Fazer Group.  

The task provided by Fazer is to design a way to encourage and support individuals, households, businesses and/or communities to reduce food waste. The competitors should apply innovative design practice to draw attention to the environmental, social and ethical implications of food waste and to develop a solution that will change peoples’ behaviour so they waste less. Fazer has set a cash award for the challenge and is part of the judges’ panel. The winners and the winning suggestions will be announced in June 2016.

“Besides the environmental and ethical benefits of not throwing away food, the economic advantage may be significant – both on the individual and community level”, says Heli Arantola.

Fazer wants to engage in open source prototyping

Fazer engages in different types of cooperation with universities and students. This award challenge is one way of prototyping open source innovation to complement consumer insight methods. The aim is also to introduce design thinking in a broader context to Fazer and to get closer to the design school community.

Global Director of the RSA Student Design Awards Sevra Davis says:

“There is still a common misconception that design is just about making beautiful products and things that look nice. We want to show that good design is fundamental to creating positive social and environmental change on a global scale. The aim of the RSA Student Design Awards is to help challenge society, the design industry, governments and business to think more openly about what design can do. In addition, we want to help a new generation of students focus their skills on creating genuine innovations via design thinking.”

The RSA Student Design Awards is organised by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a think tank founded in 1754. RSA's mission is to enrich society through ideas and action by bringing about the conditions for this change, and by sharing powerful ideas and carrying out cutting-edge research; building networks and opportunities for people to collaborate.

Additional information:
Heli Arantola, SVP, Strategy and Renewal, Fazer Group, tel.: +358 500 505 762

Nina Elomaa, Corporate Responsibility Director, Fazer Group, tel.: +358 45 354 8611

Emails are in the form firstname.lastname@fazer.com

Fazer Group

Fazer is an international family-owned company offering quality bakery, confectionery, biscuit and grain products as well as food and café services. Fazer operates in eight countries and exports to more than 40 countries. Fazer’s mission is to create taste sensations. The company’s success, ever since its establishment in 1891, has been based on the best product and service quality, beloved brands, the passion of its skilful people and the company’s responsible ways of working. The goal is to share the taste of good life every day. Fazer Group’s net sales in 2014 amounted to more than 1.6 billion euros and the company has over 15,000 employees. Fazer’s operations comply with ethical principles that are based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact.

Makes the world taste good