Successful first edition of Albert Heijn's Better Food Festival

05-05-2022

On Friday 29 and Saturday 30 April, Albert Heijn organised the first Better Food Festival at Expo Haarlemmermeer in Vijfhuizen. The Better Food Festival was for anyone curious about what food can do for you and your environment, and was all about tasting, experiencing and being inspired. Vion and ME-AT were represented.

Themes
During the festival, Albert Heijn's mission ‘Making better food accessible together. For everyone.’ was brought to life. Three themes are central to this: feeling good about yourself with a healthy lifestyle, the socially connecting power of food and how we can leave the earth a better place for the next generation.

Better For square
Vion, Plukon, A-ware and Bakker Barendrecht jointly represented themselves on the Better For square as the suppliers of all Better For products to Albert Heijn's programme. Visitors to the Better For square found themselves entering a mock up of a farmyard or barn.

While enjoying freshly sliced pork products, visitors were able to talk to pig farmers and Vion colleagues about the role of the pig in the food chain, among other things. One of the pig farmers was Ruud van Dijck. Ruud was impressed by the professionally organised festival.

Ruud has also had good discussions with consumers about the role of Albert Heijn in the earnings model of pig farmers. “Many consumers find it commendable that Albert Heijn is sticking its neck out for pig farmers and other suppliers. In this way, the consumer indirectly determines how quickly sustainability is achieved: the more demand, the more Albert Heijn can invest in sustainability and the faster we, as pig farmers, can achieve it. Of course, we all make these choices for the long term,” says Ruud.

Plant-based
​​​​​​​Plant-based was one of the big themes at the Better Food Festival. ME-AT was represented on the Plant-based square where the new field bean burger of Dutch origin was presented to consumers. Vegan lardons from ME-AT could also be tasted as part of a vegan pancake.

See below for photos of the Better Food Festival.