future trends

When culinary excellence becomes an ecological statement—and top chefs take responsibility: Sustainability doesn’t end with packaging—it begins with product selection. This is impressively demonstrated by the Relais & Châteaux association, which, with over 580 member establishments, is considered the world’s largest gourmet community. Together with the NGO Ethic Ocean, it has launched an initiative that could not be more consistent: its chefs are committed to removing endangered fish and seafood species from their menus until stocks have recovered.

If you really want to understand your employees, you have to look deeper. How an unusual tool reduces conflicts, unleashes potential, and changes duty rosters.

Takeaway without a guilty conscience – and with social added value: since its relaunch in 2024, the TafelBox has become one of the most effective tools against food waste in Austria. The simple principle: guests take leftover food home with them – and at the same time donate to a good cause. For every box sold, 20 cents go directly to Die Tafel Österreich to provide people affected by poverty with rescued food.

Vienna-based start-up and-less is revolutionizing commercial kitchens with a simple but ingenious reusable idea: Sustainability in the hospitality industry doesn’t start with the guest’s plate – it often starts much earlier, behind the scenes. One example of this is communal catering: every day, thousands of meals are delivered to schools, nursing homes, and canteens in disposable containers, which end up in the trash immediately after being emptied. Barely visible to the public, this creates a mountain of waste that, according to and-less, is equivalent to the area of around 181 soccer fields every year.

Genusspunkt presents a forward-looking project that shows how social, ecological, and economic responsibility can be successfully combined in the hospitality industry.

On October 22, 2025, Belgian master pâtissier and chocolatier Pierre Marcolini took to the stage at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva—not as a representative of a corporation, but as the voice of artisans, creatives, and small businesses. His opening speech at the “Changemakers for Sustainable Trade” dialogue became a highlight of the conference – a passionate appeal for a more humane, transparent, and value-based economy.