Have you noticed how our approach to nutrition and food has changed in recent years? Whether it's eating with friends and family, where more and more people are avoiding certain ingredients for health reasons or out of conviction, or in restaurants and at events that offer special diets and methods - the change is noticeable everywhere.

Particularly striking is the increase in vegetarians and vegans over the past ten years. What once began as a trend has developed into a fixed way of life that both retailers and the catering industry have had to respond to. Food intolerances that occur in young children also require targeted measures and clear labeling. This education is not only important, but vital. Allergy sufferers need to know what they can eat without hesitation and, if in doubt, ask or do without.

These developments clearly show how important comprehensive information and clear labeling have become. 20 years ago, I, Markus Messemer, started developing software that could be used to manage recipes and calculate nutritional values and ingredient lists for food. Many bakers and restaurateurs were interested in providing their customers with accurate information about the ingredients in their products. With the introduction of mandatory allergen labeling in Europe in 2015, this became even more urgent.

Instead of providing customers with all the information in text form, it seemed to me to make more sense to introduce a clear and easy-to-understand set of symbols directly on price tags and menus. This is how the concept of foodsymbols came about, which has since been used by more and more companies.