(Archive) Embassy of Food

The supermarket of the future

The Embassy of Food does not offer immediate answers but takes you through a world of possible future scenarios. Experience the advantages and disadvantages of possible developments and decide what your supermarket of the future should look like.

The supermarket is a fascinating place; where people from all corners of society come together, where new products are introduced, and where people experiment with packaging materials, influencing purchasing behaviour and methods for reducing food waste. It is an influential place where we, as consumers, shape the future every day by deciding what we put in our shopping baskets. Even when we do not always realise it.

Meat without animals, milk without cows, functional food, grocery deliveries within 10 minutes and digital dining. We are in the middle of an enormous food transition that is challenging our existing resources, production techniques and (culinary) habits. We are massively seeking more sustainable, fairer and healthier alternatives for a better world. At the same time, we long for even more convenience, personalisation, a better experience and constant digitalisation. All these developments mean that the supermarket will have changed drastically by 2050.

Together with designers and students from Eindhoven University of Technology, we have been working on various scenarios for the supermarket of the future for the past few months. We did this in the form of an Embassy Lab in which Studio Merle Bergers, Nonhuman Nonsense and the students worked on three concrete design assignments. The results will be presented at Dutch Design Week 2022. Expect a stimulating interactive exhibition that allows you to experience various – desirable and less desirable – future scenarios and that triggers you to think.