Pop-up pizzeria turns saved energy into pizza

The Vest Pizza restaurant powered its ovens with the energy saved by the neighborhood.

Mexico has already seen a scheme enabling those with recyclable waste to swap it for fresh produce in the form of the government-led Mercado de Trueque. Recently, two Danish-based companies teamed up to create the Vest Pizza campaign, which included a restaurant that powered its ovens with the energy saved by the neighborhood. Energy firm Vestforbrænding and advertising agency Anew created a pizzeria whose output depended on the amount of energy being saved by local residents. The less energy they used, the more pizzas were available. Vestforbrænding customers were sent leaflets detailing eight ways to cut their energy usage, as well as information about the upcoming pizzeria. The company then worked out how much had been saved and cooked the relevant number of pizzas at its opening night. More pizzas could be cooked depending on the number of ‘Likes’ the firm’s Facebook page received, as well as the number of hits on its energy saving tips webpage. Although acting as a marketing campaign for Vestforbrænding, the solution also raised awareness of energy usage and encouraged homeowners to reduce their footprints, as well as offering something in return. Now that this campaign has finished, could this be a business model that could be turned into something more sustainable?