How to Level Up - Yopla, Sustainable pioneers

The Level Up startup event introduced us to all kinds of entrepreneurs, ideas and startups. We sat down with Purvi and Oscar, the driving forces behind Yopla to learn more about their journey, their vision and their mission to promote conscious choices.

During the immensely successful 'Level Up' event, investors, startups and people from the high-tech sector of the Brainport region and Brabant came together to inspire each other and expand their network. In this triptych, we speak with three extraordinary startups that made their pitch to possibly go a  'Level up'.

What drove you to begin a  startup?

Purvi: Yopla's journey began at Tilburg University where I studied "strategic management" focused on sustainability. I came to the Netherlands because sustainability is extremely well regarded here. And I did find a wealth of data on sustainability, but to my surprise not much was actually being done with all that data. I myself come from a part of India where, for example, it is very natural to reuse everything. Most food comes without packaging and so on. That’s why I saw a lot of opportunities to integrate sustainability into life here!

Oscar, your focus is on entrepreneurship and innovation where sustainability plays a big role. How does Yopla contribute to a more conscious food industry?

Oscar: At Yopla, it's all about "K.I.S.S.” - Keep It Smart and Sustainable ^TM  . We are introducing a climate label for food, specifically focused on food services. We rate food on global standards and give it a rating in 'pinecones'. Why pinecones? They have powerful meaning as seeds of wild trees. Yopla stands for "Your Plan for Your Planet" and uses AI to combine all the data and thus promote conscious choices without compromising on taste.
 

That sounds like a huge undertaking, how do you start something like that?

Purvi: We collect data on food and the entire supply chain, such as the origin of coffee beans, for example, through life-cycle analyses. Some data is available, but we also generate our own data. We work closely with food services at the business level and integrate our findings into their processes. This is how we arrive at a detailed measured sustainability index that we make accessible through our rating.

Wait a minute, you have to explain that one. It's better to eat a Spanish tomato than a Dutch one?

Oscar: Yeah, that's pretty wild, right? But if you put all the data side by side, you see that growing tomatoes in Spain causes much less co2 emissions. So the journey that huge piles of tomatoes make to get here are less taxing than the tomatoes you grow here in greenhouses. We initially thought about expressing our rating in tomatoes because we think it's such a good example, but we liked pinecones even better.
 

How can interested foodservices contact you to collaborate?

Oscar: Foodservices interested in making sustainable choices can contact us at hello@yopla.io. We look forward to working together to make the world of food more sustainable by applying all that data. Or in the words of Purvi: “Let’s put sustainability on the Menu, collect pinecones and earn rewards.”