Nobell Foods, a US-based producer of cheeses made with animal-free dairy proteins, has launched a new campaign exploring how climate change could affect the production of pizza.
Called Pizza Futures, it consists of a report, limited-run magazine, and public service campaign designed to create change by using pizza as a symbol of how current lifestyles could be threatened by issues such as crop failure.
The campaign explores 30 data-driven scenarios of how the future of pizza could look, some where the challenges of climate change have been responded to and others where they have not. The scenarios include solutions such as cultivated ingredients and pizza vending machines that recycle food waste, but these are contrasted with a future where pizza is an expensive luxury item due to the scarcity of ingredients.
“Envisioning a range of climate futures isn’t just speculation — it’s a potent creative exercise that stretches the imagination and fosters proactive thinking. It makes the abstract more tangible,” says Nobell Foods.
“Dire existential threat”
Nobell Foods is a company using precision fermentation to produce animal-free versions of dairy proteins such as casein; these are then used to make highly realistic cheese alternatives. The company has so far raised over $100 million from investors including Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition Ventures.
Earlier this year, Nobell Foods won a Fast Company award for its use of soybeans as bioreactors to grow dairy proteins affordably. The technology is said to have the potential to compete with conventional dairy on price.
“Wheat, tomatoes, and cheese. All critical to the creation of a hot and melty pizza pie, and all under threat in their own unique ways due to escalating climate change,” says Nobell Foods. “Recognizing this dire existential threat to the world’s most beloved cheese-based dish, Nobell Foods brought together a team of futurists, food writers, artists, and designers. Our goal? To knead out a vision of what pizza looks like in a future where we meet the challenge of climate change, and what it looks like if we don’t. Pizza Futures is this vision served up piping hot.”
