Why Beelong?

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 buy in a more sustainable way, there must be access to information! Beelong thus wishes to contribute to the development of transparency on the food market by making accessible environmental information on products.

* Source: Office fédéral de l’environnement (OFEV – Swiss federal office for the environment), 2011

Created on the campus of the École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL – Lausanne Hotel Management School), the Beelong indicator attempts to reply to a simple 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?

Initially supported by EHL between 2012 and 2014 for a pilot stage with 15 restaurants in the region, subsequently consolidated scientifically, the indicator then won the 1st Prize in the HES-SO 2103 Genilem competition for its innovative and applied aspects.

The enthusiastic welcome given to the indicator led to the creation of the company in 2014. Between 2015 and 2016 more than 70 firms were already working with Beelong, thanks notably to its integration into the strategy of the Canton of Vaud for sustainable food, then the interest of the other cantons in French-speaking Switzerland.

It was in 2017, seeing the market’s increasing interest and caterers’ new demands for greater transparency, traceability and sustainability, that Beelong developed its services for food product brands and distributors.

Beelong today works with numerous caterers, brands and distributors throughout Switzerland, all players concerned about the future of our planet and the transparency of the food industry.