Food within planetary boundaries
University of Twente, caterer Appèl and coffee supplier Maas are working together towards the menu of the future. Our goal is to halve the environmental impact of the food and beverages we serve on campus by 2030.
Initiatives
In recent years, several initiatives have been set up that contribute to this goal. In 2022-2023, we partnered with Greendish, experts in sustainable food, to support our catering colleagues in moving to a more sustainable menu. In 2024, together with UT spinoff MiST Sustainable Solutions, we ran a pilot visualising the impact of the five best-selling sandwiches in the canteens. This helped guests compare sandwiches to weigh the impact in their choice. The pilot showed that 36 percent of customers reconsidered their choice as a result of the information shown and 88 percent would like to see the same information with other dishes.
Because of the success of the pilot, we expanded this to all sandwiches in all canteens on campus in 2025. We have calculated the impact on our planet for all sandwiches: their CO2 emissions, land use and water use. In addition, we list the nutritional values. The visualizations aim to inform and make the UT community aware of the impact of their food choices.
Coffee and tea
At the same time, we started to visualize the impact of five types of hot drinks from the coffee machines on campus, in cooperation with supplier Maas. These are black coffee, cappuccino with cow's milk, cappuccino with oat milk, tea and hot chocolate. These drinks were chosen because of their popularity and because of the relatively large variation in impact.
More information
Do you have questions or do you want to know more about how we work towards a sustainable menu? We'd love to hear from you! Contact the SEE program at sustainability@utwente.nl.