Local, Responsible, Innovative Food at NBForum 2017

Responsibility is more than just a theme for Nordic Business Forum 2017 — cross-generational thinking is actually one of our core values. We try to incorporate it in everything we do, from donating trees to offset our carbon footprint, to serving sustainable delicacies at our events. Last year, we fully embraced the vegetarian menu. This year, we are eager to expand our culinary repertoire and announce the addition of a few innovations to our event menu!

Food plays an integral role in every Nordic Business Forum event — and NBForum 2017 is no exception. We are proud to have designed this year’s event menu with TV chef Jyrki Sukula and Fazer’s Mikko Laaksonen and Mika Pesonen.

Catering for 7,500 people with just the right amount of food is no simple feat. Unfortunately, we experienced a significant level of food waste at NBForum 2016, which is why we have made it our goal to engage in more sustainable food practices at NBForum 2017. Hans-Peter Siefen, CEO of Nordic Business Forum: “This year, instead of our traditional buffet, we will serve lunches by the plate to minimize food loss. We tried this during Nordic Business Forum Sweden in January 2017, and it worked very well.”

Sustainability is a guiding principle both for how we distribute food and what we have chosen to serve. Hans-Peter Siefen: “Sourcing local ingredients was the most important criteria in designing our menu this year. We want to serve Finnish products that support local producers rather than importing from foreign suppliers.”

This challenge was warmly embraced by our chef, Jyrki Sukula: “Our selection of ingredients epitomize sustainability. Underutilized fish, vegetables, game, wild herbs and berries, and other Finnish seasonal products will play a key role in the menu. By fishing pike and roach, we can prevent lake eutrophication — and broad beans in Härkis contribute to nitrogen fixation. These types of ingredients are great sources of responsible protein and can also be cooked in a variety of ways.”

Beyond making our menu responsible and sustainable, we want to treat our event guests to exciting, new tastes with our range of food innovations. Jyrki Sukula: “The chefs from Fazer haven’t let themselves off the hook as there are many ambitious recipes and combinations included in the menu! We are using Finnish vegetable proteins in new ways, such as broad beans in cookies, and pulled peas for lunch. We are also introducing insects as part of the menu.” *

Why insects? Jyrki Sukula: “Insects will play a big role in food chains in the future, and will be introduced to the general market as early as next year. The developments in recipes using insects is quickly evolving. Soon, we will see additions like crickets to mainstream restaurant menus, and ants as spices and proteins in different foods and pastries.”

Hans-Peter Siefen: “The menu is so exciting this year! I’ve never experienced this variety of flavors at our tastings when building the menus. We also took localization in sourcing to a whole new level. We hope to provide an inspiring and unique dining experience for our guests at NBForum 2017.”

* Insects will be used as decoration for the food served at NBForum 2017.