FOOD DESIGN THINKING
the food creativity process by Dr. Francesca Zampollo
Food Design Thinking is the creative process that leads to innovative, meaningful, and sustainable propositions for new dishes, food products, food events, food services, food systems, and anything related to all the
Restaurants, cafes, and other food businesses fail... All the time.
Why? Most articles you’ll find list these reasons: location, lack of people management, lack of accounting skills, bad food execution, poor promotion, poor inventory, etc.
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While these causes are all true, nobody talks about the number one reason why food businesses fail: lack of good ideas.
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Food Design Thinking is the process that helps you generate ideas and final food concepts that are grounded in research, that are meaningful and sustainable.
The Food Design Thinking PROCESS:
6 phases
52 methods
Food Design Thinking
Food Design Thinking is the process that leads to generating new and innovative ideas for any project within the Food Design discipline.
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Food Design Thinking is a food-specific branch of Design Thinking.​
While it is appropriate to use a Design Thinking process for food projects, I argue that when designing food and around the act of eating, adopting a Food Design Thinking process will lead to better and more cohesively designed propositions.
Design Thinking
Design Thinking is a "generic" (or non-discipline-specific) Design process used in many different disciplines and across the world. It helps analysing wicked problems and finding unexpected solutions.
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There are many versions available with different principles and values. It is advised to use it with a trained facilitator.
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TRAINING
Bespoke training on the full Food Design Thinking methodology and process.
Companies
Full training for a Food Design Team to be established within the company.
The team will learn the complete methodology through in-person sessions with Francesca, including theoretical lessons on the methodology and best practices, as well as hands-on experiential learning of a selection of the methods.
Objective:
The objective is for the team to become independent in the use of the FDT methodology.
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- see examples -
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Universities
FDT courses for Bachelor and Master students of any discipline, including design, gastronomy, hospitality, and more. Students will learn the basic principles and methods of the FDT methodology and be equipped to integrate it into their future projects.
- see examples -
Teacher Training program that equips university educators with a solid foundation in the principles and methodologies of the Food Design Thinking (FDT) process, empowering them to effectively integrate FDT into their curricula.​
Individuals
Full training is available for food professionals, newly graduated students, consultants, and individuals changing career paths.
You can participate in one-on-one sessions with Francesca to explore the full FDT methodology and the best practices of the process, as well as a selection of methods.
Objective:
The objective is to become self-sufficient in applying the FDT process to your future projects.
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- what people say -
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Some of the FDT training I have done for the industry
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
December 2022 - January 2024​
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Online and in-person training
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Training of a Food Design Thinking facilitator
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Design of a bespoke Food Design Thinking process to be integrated to the company's existing innovation process
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Facilitation of workshops on all phases of the process
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Generation of 36 new ideas
January - June 2019​
Parma, Italy
In-person training
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Training of a Food Design Thinking facilitator
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Facilitation of workshops on all phases of the process
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Generation of dozens of 44 new concepts​ and selection of a four final ones
November 2012 - June 2013​
Dallas - Chicago - New York, USA
In-person facilitation
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Training and facilitation of a pilot Food Design process for Pepsi Global to be used in the various divisions
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Generation of 42 of new concepts​ and selection of a few final ones
June 4-8, 2012​
Dallas, USA
In-person training
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Introduction to the Food Design discipline and a creative process designed for it.
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Simulation of a creative process to re-design three existing Frito Lay products
January 2022​
Spain
Online training
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Training on Design Thinking principles of designing for meaning and Spiritual Sustainability.
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Facilitation of 4 different workshops to help the team develop their new brand identity.
In collaboration with Indigo Project consulting.​
December, 2021​
Amman, Jordan
In-person training
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Training on the FDT process and methodology to about 20 participants.
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Facilitation on the FDT process
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Each group generated several final concept and choose one to bring to completion.
November, 2022​
Spain, UK
Online training
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​Training on Design Thinking principles of designing for meaning and Spiritual Sustainability.
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Facilitation of 4 different workshops to help the team develop their new brand identity.
In collaboration with Indigo Project consulting.​
March 2022​
Bologna, Italy
One day in-person training
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Training on the Food Design Thinking to about 20 participants.
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Facilitation on the Food Design Thinking process
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Each group generated several final concept and choose one to bring to completion.
Participants were ​​five members of Arvaia, five members of Camilla, five members of Pasto Nomade, two members of Campi Aperti, and four members of Centro 2 Agosto. Participants actively participated in the simulation of a mini-design process that allowed them to better understand their business' purpose and ideate new offers.
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Objectives:
• Positioning of the individual as a key component of the design process. The individual as a creative being.
• Introduction to the concept of the Pyramid of Sustainability conceived by Francesca Zampollo, and to the fourth vertex of sustainability proposed: Spiritual Sustainability.
• Positioning of the individual within a team. The team as a creative group.
• Identification and visualization of the Food System of interest. The importance and value of a system map.
• Identification of areas of intervention.
• Introduction of the concept of Coherence between Message and Language of each new proposal.
• Identification of the main design values ​​for the group.
• Generation of new concepts.
• Evaluation of concepts.
Some of the FDT training I have done for Universities
UNIVERSITY TRAINING
August-December 2023​
Monterrey, Mexico
In-person teaching
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FDT process integrated in existing course​
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FDT methodology used ​​to generate concepts that would bring innovation into local food businesses: Tia Ofilia, Organico the Monterrey, Urban Farms, Villa de Patos.
June 2023​
Wuxi, China
In-person teaching
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Two weeks elective course where Design students used the FDT process to generate ideas for a Speculative Food Design project. ​
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Each group completed the process and generated multiple concepts, selected a final one, and created a digital prototype.
2020-2022​
Maastricht, Netherlands
Online and in-person teaching
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Every semester the FDT process was introduced as part of the curriculum for a Gastronomy course where students were asked to generate ideas for new dishes
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All students generated multiple ideas for dishes that considered all aspects of the eating experience thus designing "beyond the plate".
TOOLS
These are three of the various idea-generation methods that I have designed for the Food Design Thinking process. These three are cards tools/games that you can purchase and use in your practice.
Thoughts For Food
Idea generation cards game
IdeaMarket
Idea generation cards game
IdeaHive
Idea generation cards game
TESTIMONIALS
I wanted to share my positive feedback on the course. So far, it has exceeded my expectations! Your explanations of the method are clear, easy to follow, and show how much thought has gone into making it holistic and complete. The material is engaging, and I'm genuinely thrilled to have discovered it!
Geraldine
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Wonderful! ...to finally have a method that crystallises ideas into concepts step by step, without feeling overwhelmed or jumping back and forth. I genuinely feel this will change my life! :)
Geraldine
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The workshop was very interesting in terms of contents and dynamics. I loved the way we got triggered to interpret other participants images with our "base question", and how it increases the reflection.
Ellen, Brazil, Chef and Food System Designer
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This workshop not only opens minds about what food design can do but also helped me improve my creative thinking, with its techniques and tools that improve the connection of isolated ideas. I also loved working in teams..
Cuchara, Uruguay, Food Designers
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It was a very useful Workshop, made me think about the cohesiveness between the message & the language beyond the plate in the F & B outlets I consult for. It helped me to point out why I was lost working on a certain project and gave me creative techniques to overcome this problem.
Haya Issa, Jordan, F&B consultant