Can big music festivals drive positive change? Last weekend proved they can! Even a small friespicker can be a hero and a symbol of a circular, resource-saving future.
We were excited to be part of Labor Tempelhof in Berlin—a unique concert series inspired by the Cradle-to-Cradle approach. Our traceless® friespickers were one of the circular products and cases contributing to the event's pioneering sustainability goals, developed in a strong and ongoing collaboration with the event’s gastronomy provider GTB Gastro Team Bremen, who is part of the leading food service company Aramark.
Staging the Future
Labor Tempelhof is more than just a music event; it is part of a broader project focused on showcasing sustainable practices and circular solutions - a true celebration of sustainability and innovation. The project is organized by Cradle To Cradle (C2C) NGO, Loft Concerts, SBS Eventsupport, and KKT – Kikis Kleiner Tourneeservice. First launched in 2022, it was continued from 23 to 25 August 2024 with three major concerts by the band Die Ärzte, each with around 60,000 spectators at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. As many climate- and resource-positive products, processes and innovations as possible were implemented and tested during planning, implementation and production. The concerts were framed by an information concept about Cradle to Cradle, recyclability and sustainability.
All images: Copyright Paul Gärtner for Labor Tempelhof
From Prototype to Progress - with Pioneering Partners
Our journey with the traceless® friespickers began back in 2022 when GTB Gastro Team Bremen approached us with a simple yet powerful idea: Could we jointly develop friespickers using injection-molded traceless® material? With over 25 years of experience in event catering, GTB was deeply committed to making the industry more sustainable, and their vision perfectly aligned with our mission. While they have tested many different alternatives, they still struggled to find a holistically sustainable, easy to implement solution for friespickers.
"We are pleased to have found a partner in traceless who supports us on our path to greater sustainability in the event industry, and that our jointly developed fries-picker is being used in this flagship project." Karen Matthiesen, Project Manager and Sustainability Officer at GTB Gastro Team Bremen GmbH
Excited by the potential, we teamed up with GTB to bring this concept to life. Already in 2022, we were proud to display our first prototypes at the Labor Tempelhof circular exhibition “Cradle Village” - with the goal to scale this solution to serial production until the next edition. This year, we were thrilled to provide a series of several thousand traceless® friespickers for the concerts, launching them at the gastronomy booths so that many visitors could enjoy their frenchfries with a traceless® picker.
The launch was a great success! While our fries pickers were in use, we had the chance to speak with many concert visitors who were excited and curious to learn more about our natural & plastic-free innovation. They loved the idea of enjoying their food with a product that leaves no trace. It was encouraging to see so much enthusiasm for a small product that can make a big impact!
"The fries-picker made from traceless materials has been a companion of Labor Tempelhof from the very beginning. We are incredibly excited that it will actually be used for eating fries on the concert grounds this year, because for us, the friespicker represents so many everyday items that can be made from this innovative material in the future." Jule Kauert, Senior Project Manager Labor Tempelhof, Loft BE
Ditch Plastic, Pick traceless
So, why did our partners actually choose traceless® friespickers, and what is the added value for the environment? The answer is simple: these small items often end up polluting our environment, and are not easy to replace with a multi-use solution. With the EU Single-Use Plastics directive, regulators have already banned plastic or bioplastic single-use cutlery from the EU market.
Most alternatives today are made from wood—a better option than plastic, as it is biobased and harmless to nature — but we wanted to take sustainability a step further: Our traceless® friespickers are made from plant leftovers of agricultural food production, which means the resource is regrowing very quickly, and we don’t need to cut down trees to produce them. This makes our pickers not only 100% plastic-free but also naturally compostable, climate-friendly, free of toxic chemicals, and safe for both humans and nature. These forks truly embody the Cradle-to-Cradle principle of the biocycle, leaving no traces behind.
"We are very happy that traceless is part of Labor Tempelhof again. The fries-picker is a great C2C case and shows the versatility and scalability of the material — not only at concerts, but far beyond that in the packaging sector. We are excited about the revolution of new materials and that Anne, Johanna, and their team are leading the way." Nora Sophie Griefahn, Co-Founder & Executive Board Member; and Tim Janßen, Co-Founder & Executive Board Member Cradle To Cradle NGO
The Challenges and Rewards of Scaling Innovation
While the future impact potential of the traceless® friespickers is huge, we can only fully realize this once we’re able to offer them in large quantities. The first large-scale material production of traceless is currently under construction. On this journey, launching small serial production pilots is a great learning opportunity - not just to gain experiences with the product itself, but also to raise public awareness around novel material innovations and build partnerships on a B2B level. The collaboration with GTB Gastro Team Bremen / Aramark has shown us what’s possible when you combine innovation with dedication, and bring together partners who believe in the potential of a pioneering innovation.
''Seeing our friespickers in action at Labor Tempelhof is a proud milestone for us. We've made significant progress from our early prototypes, and this event highlights how our vision is taking shape. While we’re super excited about what we’ve achieved so far, we’re even more motivated to continue scaling up and bringing our sustainable materials to more people and places.'' Anne Lamp, CEO & Co-Founder traceless
Thank you to everyone who collaborated in this project and helped make this launch possible. A special thanks to Team GTB/Amarak and the initiators of Labor Tempelhof for their partnership and belief in our vision. Together, we’re not just serving up fries—we’re serving up a sustainable future, one traceless® product at a time. Learn more about the project and discover other circular cases:
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