Mexico food & design by foodlosofia

Mexico food and design Copyright @ 2015 Foodlosofia Editor: Diego Bolson Ruzzarin Text: Diego Bolson Ruzzarin Ignacio de Zamacona Editorial Design: Ermilo Magaña Foodlosofia Core Team: Diego Bolson Ignacio de Zamacona Patricio Garza Marigel Zambrano Salomé Le Lay Ermilo Magaña Jorge Flores Nataly Restrepo Pauline Jacob

Foodlosofia S.A. de C.V. Río Pantepec 817 Col. del Valle Sector Ote. San Pedro Garza García, NL, Mexico. 66269 Info@Foodlosofia.com

Copyright © 2015 by Foodlosofia S.A. de C.V. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address listed.

Index

Introduction Chapter I: FoodTure Chapter II: Lood Chapter III: Social Civic Compass Chapter IV: Success Platform Chapter V: Global Challenger Chapter VI: Impruvize Chapter VII: iFood Chapter VIII: EveryDay GetAway Chapter IX: Open Kitchen Lifestyle Chapter X: Community Vitrine

5 8 12 16 24 32 36 42 46 50 58 Chapter XI: Taste Airport Chapter XII: Our “Branded” Nature Chapter XIII: Taco Is The New Burger Chapter XIV: Digitox Chapter XV: Out Of Homemade Chapter XVI: Macro Tables Chapter XVII: New Comfort Chapter XVIII: Impressive With Simplicity Chapter XIX: Solo Is the New Social Chapter XX: Corn Almighty Thanks Credits

64 68 74 78 82 88 94 98 102 108 115 116

Introduction

Mexico food and design

Mexico Food and Design We believe that design can change the way we relate to food. This will ultimately lead to better social interactions, more human empathy, more innovation, more pleasure, and sustainability for the food and beverage industry. This book… is our love letter about Mexico and its unique bond with food and drinks. We want the world to fall in love again with the Mexican way of doing food: innovative, creative, visionary, delicious, humane… But how do we explain to a Mathematician the meaning of love? Well, we can try using numbers or formulas. Since Food Design is a new discipline, we have asked for 20 borrowed “voices” from the creative community in Mexico. From architecture, to photography, to music production and even a short movie, we will try to make our message clear in as many creative languages as possible.

Mostly our friends, or friends of friends, that with their creative spirit and traits will help us inspire the world to be a little bit more like the Mexico we love. These 20 points represent our vision on how to make things better. Diego Bolson Ruzzarin CEO Foodlosofia

Chapter I

Foodture: Back to simple pleasure with more meaning

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Design has to find new ways to entertain.â&#x20AC;?

Concept by Foodlosofia

Think about your favorite meal. Now imagine having to eat that 3 times a day, every day. Day 1 sounds awesome! Maybe even day 2 will be a guilty sensory overflow. Day 3 will start to become a question. How many days before you beg for a simple meal? An interesting fact about this scenario is that is not very far from reality. We all get tired of food; even of our favorite flavors. It has been quite some time since society stopped eating out of necessity for sustenance and started snacking for entertainment. Design has an interesting role in this new

model where we need to find unique, novel ways to constantly keep consumers interested. The challenge stands in setting the limits to this creativity in order not to fall into transgression. Mexico is one of the top snacking countries in the world. Naturally it will be the birthplace of the future of snacking simply because it has no other option. Obesity, diabetes, and the cost of food have caused both people and the industry to challenge all pre-established rules.

Chapter I

Foodture: Back to simple pleasure with more meaning

Cookies with tea that can infuse water

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mexico will be the birthplace for the future of snackingâ&#x20AC;?

Chapter I

Foodture: Back to simple pleasure with more meaning

Foodture: Back to simple pleasure with more meaning “I am used to looking for the common ground”

Creative Partner Pedro Reissig Product Design Foodmorphology Lab

Having lived half my life in Latin America, the other in the North, I am used to looking for the common ground; the underlying patterns which join apparently incongruent things, be it people, cultures, materials, food, music, etc. That is how I became interested in design. It became the natural ground for bringing together my interests in people, places, experiences and experimentation, whether it

is applied to materials, food, spaces, etc. The examples shown here were all born from my research in Fluid Origami: a term coined to describe a system of design based on leather used in a structural form. The inspiration for the “Barquito” had do with my frequent travels in Latin America, and especially Mexico: a country I found bursting with wonder, dreams and tenderness, even though sometimes hidden

Chapter I

Foodture: Back to simple pleasure with more meaning

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is an homage to travel and let the wind take you where it mightâ&#x20AC;?

behind veils of threat and insecurity. These travels often challenged me to new limits, but usually followed by optimism leading to new ideas for new projects. The sensation that we are on a life long trip, difficult to plan, easier to dream... the feeling that anything is possible and yet constantly changing... is what inspired making Barquito for keeping my working

tools close by, namely notes, pens and pencils. It is a homage to travel, to let the wind take you where it might. I believe that this project of putting Mexican design and food on mutual terms can be a genuine source of inspiration since it dares to blur boundaries, work outside the box, and put basics back on the table and into our minds.

Chapter II

Lood: 50 shades from liquid to solid

Concept by Foodlosofia

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not uncommon for us to see drinks replace full mealsâ&#x20AC;? From a grain of sand, to a dune, to a desert, this is a call to blur the lines and expectations. It is not uncommon for us to see drinks replace full meals or for snacks to claim to be refreshing. But what else? If we draw a line between a liquid and a solid, how many permutations do we have in the middle? What if we take this analogy one step further and add another axis of non-homogenous mixes?

What is a soup; a liquid or a solid? Depends on the soup? What about a milkshake? What about bubble teas or tapioca drinks? The name of the game is pleasure: texture as a form of stimulation for the palate; as a driver to showcase new tastes and ingredients in contrast with different backgrounds and mediums. We expect to see a huge cross-fertilization

Chapter II

Lood: 50 shades from liquid to solid

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Texture as the new top pleasure driverâ&#x20AC;?

from iconic drinks into solids and vice-versa. The challenge is to avoid transgressions and keep the concepts clear for the pleasure of consumers.

Clamato with bacon

Chapter II

Lood: 50 shades from liquid to solid

Lood Food: 50 shades from liquid to solid

“A keyword for what i like to do is curiosity”

Foodlosofia Team Member Ermilo Magaña 3D Rendering Creative director

That feeling of wanting to know what is gonna happen next. I like to work with 3D renders as an artistic expression because it doesn’t have the same limitations as traditional art. I can never run out of color I can only run out of creativity and curiosity. My name is Ermilo Magaña (Milo for my friends). I’m an ad man and I love it. If I could I’d do it for free.

I took the inspiration to talk about the transition from liquid to solid and all the states in between from one of our biggest sources of gross income: Fruits and vegetables… but with a twist. What I mean is that I tried to glamorize them, and in that closing the gap between the producer on the field and the consumer on the store, one thing that both topics have in common is the elasticity in how a single object can change so much.

Chapter II

Lood: 50 shades from liquid to solid

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Embrace the challenge to create the imposible.

A thing as simple as an apple can be the source of income for our producers, the logo of a big company, or the meaning of temptation for the western part of the world.

to capture with a regular camera, and freeze that moment between solid and liquid in that impossible angle. For me this topic is about that: the impossible.

As a creative person this elasticity is priceless especially when it gives you the flexibility to create stuff that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist; textures that

Share with your creativity. Embrace competition and collaboration.

Chapter III

Social civic compass: From passive to active, from guilty to heroic

“When did we teach our children that chocolate is a reward?”

III Concept by Foodlosofia

How far are we from asking children what a strawberry is only to get the following answer: “Strawberries… hmmm… you mean what the yogurt tastes like!?” This is a scary distortion that implies fundamental flaws in our food chain. Yes, industry needs to act as a moral compass for communities, but it doesn’t carry the whole responsibility.

When did we teach our children that chocolate is a reward and broccoli is a punishment? Bitter unsweetened chocolate can be tough on the taste buds, and we know a kale juice can be delicious. What would happen if we injected the same level or creativity, fantasy, sexiness and aspiration into preparing vegetables as we do with candy?

Chapter III

Social civic compass: From passive to active, from guilty to heroic

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Mexico we still have children craving fruits and vegetablesâ&#x20AC;?

In Mexico, we still have children craving fruits and vegetables. Even if they are full of chili spices and lemon, we see people of all ages craving a healthy afternoon snack. That alone is enough inspiration to kickstart a new generation of healthier food and drink rewards.

Obleas filled with veggie candy

Chapter III

Social civic compass: From passive to active, from guilty to heroic

“Mexico has experienced a concetrated growth in a handful of cities” Foodlosofia Founding Partner Patricio Garza Social Entrepreneur DVC President

III

Mexico could be an example for social entrepreneurship. Like many other Latin American countries, Mexico has experienced a concentrated growth in a handful of cities. This common tendency in Latin America has also been tied up to lack of urban planning, creating not only disproportionate urban concentrations, but also a series of gaps on infrastructure. Most importantly it has seriously affected quality of life for its communities.

situation. However, experience has showed that despite the efforts these two sectors of the community might carry out, the quality of life for our communities continues to deteriorate.

Until recently, citizens have considered government authorities and the private sector to be responsible to “fix” this urban

A success case has been the Distrito Valle del Campestre (DVC). Our organization has manifested since 2013 its vision to generate

During the last years, we have witnessed how citizens have begun to recognize our responsibility to create a systemic vision of our city; one that gives us the quality of life we deserve.

Chapter III

Social civic compass: From passive to active, from guilty to heroic

“Collaboration among our community members is the key to start this process”

a balanced, collaborative and sustainable community. It is composed of a diverse range of community members, including neighborhood associations, property owners, private companies, government institutions, and nonprofit associations. DVC seeks to regenerate their district within the San Pedro Garza Garcia municipality in Nuevo Leon. We have created a systemic vision based on our community needs and are targeting urban regeneration.

We are expecting this regeneration to create a significant improvement in our quality of life. Our vision has had a creative effect on the area, causing entrepreneurs to establish projects with positive social impact. Among them we have found businesses promoting bicycle usage, public transportation services, significant changes on real state projects to improve the public realm, and community food hubs just to mention some examples.

We believe this is only the beginning of great positive changes. Our experience has the potential to be replicated on other sectors besides urban regeneration and on other cities of the world.

Chapter III

Social civic compass: From passive to active, from guilty to heroic

“I don’t usually draw to share; I draw to understand” Foodlosofia Team Member Salome Le Lay Sketching Food Design Lead

III

My name is Salomé Le Lay. I am a French designer based in Mexico. Throughout my childhood and into my design formation I have had the opportunity to travel world wide and experience living abroad. Travel has made me hungry for discovery; curiosity is my appetite. For me, drawing has always been a means of absorption; a way to get intimate with new contexts. As a designer I use sketching

to communicate, but as an individual it is a very personal medium where I integrate and translate through my own interpretation. Recently, I have been touched and inspired by a Mexican documentary book mixing photography and stories called “Las Amorosas más Bravas”. Few people imagine what happens to sex workers when they grow old. This book shares the stories of these women living in Mexico City.

Chapter III

Social civic compass: From passive to active, from guilty to heroic

“It’s not about charity or pity. It’s about looking through social-taboo and welcoming reality” As a non fluent Spanish speaker, I had to focus on the portraits of these prostitutes to understand their stories. Drawing their expressions in detail and spending time on a macro interpretation made me imagine their stories beyond what is evident. Social media is overflowing with meaningless pictures of our meals or new pairs of shoes.

We share nothing; no meaning, no relevance, no depth. We could also use these media to speak about what matters. As a creative individual, I believe we must use our artistic tools to create more human empathy and a greater sense of social belonging. Even if Mexico is a modern country, it still has a lot of empathy for non social celebrities.

Chapter IV

Succes platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

Success platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Creativity will overcome disparityâ&#x20AC;?

IV Concept by Foodlosofia

There is never enough celebration for entrepreneurship. In a social and financial context where so few wallets carry so much of the profits, creativity is a tool that helps us overcome disparity. Mexico is still a young country, yet mature enough to be a success. This country understands capitalism, yet the rules of the game are challenged every day, and so the rules change, and most of the times in a good way that brings more value, pleasure and health.

In the Food and Drink business, this has just started. Innovation in food and drinks is harder than ever, we need to design not only the multi sensorial experience. We need to design successful scalable, sustainable, and adaptable business models. As designer we have to bring pleasure, in texture, shape, form, concept, flavor and aroma.

Chapter IV

Succes platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Healthy as a new sexy indulgenceâ&#x20AC;? As strategists we have to make business that can grow, include the informal markets, be open sourced by the community and users and inspire positive change around the world. Food for you: Healthy lifestyle retail

Chapter IV

Succes platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

Success platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As food designers we have a responsibilityâ&#x20AC;?

Foodlosofia Founding Partner Nacho de Zamacona Bussines Design CFO Foodlosofia

Driving innovation and business growth through food design. It is no coincidence that businesses with a solid growth and innovation strategy tend to thrive in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market place in comparison to companies that refuse to change their business model.

for the consumer and the need to create profitable and sustainable business models. A well designed food concept that delivers pleasure as a holistic experience but has a terrible pricing strategy is doomed to go out of business.

Although the food and beverage industry has an incredible responsibility towards its clients, it still has an ever glooming shadow of responsibility towards their share holders as well. Food design has to serve as a strate-

On the other hand, a horrible product with enough marketing muscle can achieve solid sales and high profits but a terrible long term reputation with its clients. As food designers we have a responsibility to both

Chapter IV

Succes platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

~ DISRUPTIVE

~ INCREMENTAL

~ CORE ~ SYSTEM BUSINESS MODELS ~ BRANDS/SPACES ~ PRODUCTS/SERVICES

business types; to use both design thinking and strategic planning to propose better solutions for the future. Food design is about balancing a symphony of product development, translating the value of an idea, mitigating risk, creating opportunities, new technological applications, developing incremental markets and synthesizing insights where the consumer might lack vision.

Even though food design is still laying down roots and establishing itself as an important part of the F&B development process, it is important that we never forget our objective: to generate revenue and sustainable growth through better products, better ideas, and higher value propositions.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Is about balancing a symphony of product develomentâ&#x20AC;?

Chapter IV

Succes platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

Success platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to mock the fear for eating fruits and chileâ&#x20AC;?

Creative Partner Daniel Alanis Cinematographer / Photographer

I was born in Monterrey, Mexico. My father started lending me his Canon SLR camera when I was 14. Slowly, through the years, my curiosity for photography and cinema turned into a hobby and then into my passion. I worked in a corporate office for a few boring years until I decided to take the risk and go to Los Angeles to study cinematography. In three years I shot over 30 short films, and a few feature films.

Last year I decided to come back to Monterrey to use my experience and skills to start MOMENTO. In Momento, we produce the story and the aesthetic needed for the production to be successful. From creating the correct script to choosing which lens to shoot with to mixing the final audio for the project, everything and everyone involved in the production needs to click together for the final product to shine.

Chapter IV

Succes platform: Crazy enough to work, flexible enough to survive

You can see the video here:

www.danielalanis.com

We shoot commercials, music videos, feature films, documentaries, and short films, as well as portraits and editorial photos. In our video we decided to mock the foreign fear of Mexican eating customs, in this case, fruit with chile. Through it we hope to contradict existing stereotypes and wel-

come foreigners to spice up common-day snacks just like Mexicans do. Once there was a Mexican who had the “stupid” idea of including chile on his fruit cart on the street. Nowadays, there isn’t a fruit store or cart in the whole country that doesn’t offer a variety of chiles to go along with the fresh

fruit. Playing it safe will take you nowhere, so go ahead and spice up your pineapple with what it really needs.

Chapter V

Global challenger: Local re-invention on global icons

Global Challenger: Local re-invention on global icons

Concept by Foodlosofia

Bill Gates once said “intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana”. This is particularly true in developing countries. Mexico has a special love for the “tropicalization” of global icons. There is movement here, from simple copies as a form of adoration, to a re-invention as a stance of defiance. Sushi restaurants will serve beef “makis” with jalapeño peppers as the hero item on the menu, not because the owner has never been to Japan, but because maki makers have never been to Mexico. In

a place with such a strong food heritage, it is hard to imagine that foreign techniques would be represented as carbon copies of the original. Being a global challenger is a natural regulation to fake capitalist constructions or the abuse of “denominations of origin”. We get it: the wine market is dominated by 3 or 4 regions, but that is only for the old wine. What about the products of tomorrow? There is so much new pleasure to be invented if we bend the rules just a little.

Chapter V

Global challenger: Local re-invention on global icons

“Mexico has a special love for the “tropicalization” of global icons”

White wine with floating vanilla bean

34 Chapter V

Global challenger: Local re-invention on global icons

Global Challenger: Local re-invention on global icons

“Music is remembered for what it’s capable of making a person feel”

Creative Partner Gil Montiel Music producer / Dj Sound engineer Partner at Casa Morelos

I am a Mexican producer, and I believe in music because music believes in me. In it, I found my language, my friend, and the best way to convey my ideas and to purge my soul.

my Electronic Music Producer Certificate from SAE Barcelona, in 2008, and after that I started a Master Certificate on Music Production at Berklee College of Music.

I started hitting pans and pots at my mother’s kitchen until I’ve got my first set of drums. Since then, I knew I couldn’t stop getting more involved with music. I played different instruments from an early age for several bands until I discovered I wanted to record and mix my own sounds. I started playing drums when I was 6 years old and producing music when I was 18 – 11 years ago. I’ve got

As an electronic music producer, I have released original material and remixes on Internationally acclaimed labels. I’ve traveled the world looking for the best ingredients to brew my own sound. I have performed in places around the world such as: Barcelona, Paris, Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Mexico, among others. I’ve also had the pleasure to work with great artists such as

Chapter V

Global challenger: Local re-invention on global icons

You can listen to the mix here:

soundcloud.com/gil-montiel

Shakira, for whom I did a remix in 2011. For this book, I made a collaboration with Dani Blau to make this song called Airplane. Airplane is a song that describes a soul’s addiction to flight- to soaring above realities and, for as long as it can, making the line between heaven and earth fade away. We don’t need wings- all we need is a feeling. This same song was used by Realistic Fiction for their set “Taste Airport”. My vision is to change the entertainment industry, creating more engaging and holistic experiences; interacting with

visuals, dancers, and all type of artistic injections that would stimulate people’s senses to their fullest. Music is remembered for what it’s capable of making a person feel, and I work really hard every day just so one day my music will be unforgettable. I understand what music is expected to do. I understand what iconic musicians are doing, yet i try to find my place; my way of doing things. This unique way of standing is a conclusion of my past experiences, of where i came from, and a glimpse of where I am headed. I am not limited by expectations

and standards. These parameters only drive my passion for music further.

Chapter VI

Impruvize: Last minute touch triggers greatness

VI Concept by Foodlosofia

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Saving the situation in the last minute with a crafty touch is very big in the mexican cultureâ&#x20AC;?

Even if last minute solutions are a global trend, especially with millennial and the minimum effort cohort, saving the situation in the last minute with a crafty touch is very big in the Mexican culture. What is even more amazing is that most of the time, these last minute touches bring the best out of the situation. You see, even in the humblest of food stands, people will go the extra mile to make a fruit cup look like a work of art. Street vendors will make music

out of a repetitive selling catchphrase. Where big companies have multimillion dollar R&D departments full of PHDs and experts, the streets have street smarts. The everyday inventor does not fear failure, even if he has a lot to lose by failing. This lack of fear to fix something by improvisation can end up becoming an improvement that no R&D budget could pay.

Chapter VI

Impruvize: Last minute touch triggers greatness

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The everyday inventor does not fear failure.â&#x20AC;?

Fruit and chile edible sculptures

Chapter VI

Impruvize: Last minute touch triggers greatness

“It was not enough i needed to create objects in 3d” Creative Partner Camilo Garza Sculptor

Somehow my life has always been surrounded by art. It is one of those things you don’t really know why it happens, it just does. Every time I pay attention, there is something art related in my life, either the place I am at, the person I am talking to, or the topic I am talking about. I guess that is why I am more of a “right-brainer”, which explains the nature of my resume. I have been a graphic designer for a long time, and a photographer

for a longer, but suddenly, after years of dedicating my life to 2D production, I decided it was not enough. I needed to create objects in 3D, objects that could be touched, lifted, flipped, etc. This is how I became an sculptor. I relate this a lot with cooking. Somehow the kitchen suddenly asks for more from the cook than just following a recipe from a book. That is when you have to improvise in order to produce new flavors, new feelings,

Chapter VI

Impruvize: Last minute touch triggers greatness

“Improvise to give your work the “flavor” you want it to have ”

new reactions, or even communicate more than what you already have. In sculpture you also have to improvise to give your work the “flavor” you want it to have. Sometimes you have to mix materials, or take advantage of things you have taken for granted, sometimes things as simple as gravity, or balance. The same applies to cooking when you mix ingredients, or use any

equipment or skill for your advantage. While making this sculpture, I relied on balance for aesthetic purposes to give my piece a feeling of free movement, but I had to improvise using a piece of stainless steel to help stabilize the whole thing. This gave contrast and with it the final boost it needed to become an art piece.

Chapter VII

iFood: Technology changes the way we eat

VII

“How can food be more iFriendly?

Concept by Foodlosofia

The love we have for licking our cheesy fingers after having a salty snack is in direct conflict with the love we have for texting on our smartphones.

The food industry needs to tread lightly around TVs, computers, tablets and phones with ergonomic design, consumer empathy, usability, cleanliness and nutrition.

This micro-macro conflict opens a very interesting debate: how can food be more iFriendly? We expect a new generation of products designed to fit and complement our 4-screen lifestyle.

It’s important to account not only for the availability of a single hand to eat, but the consumer’s reduced amount of physical activity and a non-existent attention span. It is imperative that we move away from banal repetition that becomes background noise for whatever is on the screen.

Chapter VII

iFood: Technology changes the way we eat

“Consumer empathy, usability, cleanliness and nutrition”

Cereal and fruit crispy maki

Chapter VII

iFood: Technology changes the way we eat

iFood: Technology change the way we eat

“Our first interaction is through a screen”

Creative Partner Carlos G. Dávila Filmmaker Reverieworkshop

VII

My name is Carlos G. Dávila, and I am a filmmaker. I was born in 1983 in Monterrey, Mexico, and graduated as an Architect from the University of Monterrey before studying film in New York. In my film career, I began as a still set photographer, and then went on to produce feature films and TV shows. Most recently I directed and produced the award winning “El Beso” (The Kiss, 2014). I say that I´m a filmmaker rather than a film director or producer because that is exactly what I do: I make films. Whether this entails being a producer, a director, an editor, or

any other of the disciplines that are necessary to make a film, first and foremost I am a filmmaker. iFood, is a simple story that portrays how technology has changed the way we interact with our most basic of activities: eating. It used to be that our first experience with our food was when we’d get our plate. We would see the food, take in the smell and then taste the food, experiencing the full impact of its flavors. Now, technology has literally come between our food and us. Our first interaction is through a screen.

Chapter VII

iFood: Technology changes the way we eat

Enjoy the short here: reverieworkshop.com/ifood

People put a screen between them and their plate, take a picture, write something, and post it online, all this before even taking a moment to appreciate the food. This act disrupts the impact food has on us, and also on the interaction we have with other people eating with us. This is especially noticeable here in Mexico where food is so amazing and big family get-togethers are a big deal. iFood is a satire that hopefully will shine a bit of a light on this.

Chapter VIII

Everyday Getaway: Saturday on Monday as a mental model

VIII

“Nature has become a luxury”

Concept by Foodlosofia

Nature has become a luxury. Surrounded by concrete, cars, and electronics, artificiality has become the norm where organic nature has become a rare sight.

need spotless quality, trust, and stability but cherish nature. Mexico as a tropical country has a latent feeling of being surrounded by nature.

In the past, a glass or plastic packaging could have been perceived as high value, where today this is not necessarily the case. The challenge for the industrialized food and beverage industry is to find the answer to this new expectation and value equation. An answer where consumers still

How can we make people feel like they are on vacation in the middle of the week? How can we make our everyday experience feel like we’re breaking our routine? We know that the context modifies our perception of pleasure. For example, a simple salad can taste better if we are in front of the ocean

Chapter VIII

Everyday Getaway: Saturday on Monday as a mental model

Can we reverse the process? Can we make the exotic, seasonal flavor become a Monday transformation catalyst?

Fruit salad ceviche

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Context modifies our perception of pleasureâ&#x20AC;?

Chapter VIII

Everyday Getaway: Saturday on Monday as a mental model

“Who doesn’t remember a friend’s meeting that has ended in the kitchen?”

Creative Partner Rubén Sepúlveda Architect Dear Architects

Architecture is basically a container of something. I hope they will enjoy not so much the teacup, but the tea. Yoshio Taniguchi Space dignity is essential to generate a good quality of life. I believe architecture should provide proper spaces that satisfy basic needs, turning them into experiences that can improve a person’s life in their social and individual relationships.

VIII

In a domestic architecture system, food spaces facilitate social activities within a convivial ambience that enhances the creation of memories for people coexisting there. The

activity of preparing and eating food has turned the space of the kitchen and the table into a converging point (and a pretext) to meet. Who doesn’t remember a friend’s meeting that has ended in the kitchen, or the talks and discussions that have started around the table? Or even the memories of the aromas coming out from the kitchen at our Grandma’s place? The space around the activity of eating and preparing food is indeed a generator of important experiences and memories.

Everyday Getaway: Saturday on Monday as a mental model

I believe architecture must understand this condition and enhance its social objective in order to create a more meaningful experience. It must interpret the entire dynamic within the act of preparing, eating, discussing and digesting food with the objective of translating them in the design of a domestic space. The challenge is therefore to support daily activities like serving breakfast to your children on a Sunday or receiving a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meeting in your kitchen through the application of different architectural tools, such as the use of light, creation of paths, perspectives or material perceptions. Thus, my aim as an architect is to create an atmosphere and a proper scenario that enhance the development of the social daily activities.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need to embrace social dynamics and everyday activitiesâ&#x20AC;?

In the same way the basic need of nutrition generates meaningful experiences through pleasure and enjoyment, the simple need of a shelter should also improve our lives by creating social and dynamic spaces using architecture as a media.

Chapter IX

Open kitchen lifestyle: Every corner has a delicious surprise

“We tend to choose fast over pleasure”

IX Concept by Foodlosofia

My name is Nataly Restrepo. I am a food designer at Foodlosofia and I am passionate about the way the new geopolitical stakes are changing the way we eat. When I think about the culture of food in Mexico, the word “fresh” appears as a main driver for consumption. The tropical weather of this region provides fresh quality products all around the year, but the rapid lifestyle of the urban scenarios reduces the possibility of eating fresh in our daily life.

Our food choices are no longer satisfying our pleasure, nor our senses, but satisfying our fast and nomadic routines. I believe that the ultimate goal of food is to obtain pleasure issued from good quality food. Traditionally, quality food has always been linked to what it is carefully prepared in our kitchens, however, nowadays the kitchen has been reduced to a simple space in our homes that we barely use during the week. With this project, I wanted to recover the real meaning of the kitchen

Chapter IX

Open kitchen lifestyle: Every corner has a delicious surprise

Pop up picnic

and re-think it no longer as a static place, but as a meaningful dynamic full of flavors, techniques, traditions and relationships. Kitchen means fresh. Kitchen means just made. Kitchen means quality. Therefore, this product allows the nomadic consumers to still have the best experience in the

kitchen, no matter where they are. Given our nomadic style of living, we can no longer base our pleasure in static spaces. We must take our quality experiences to live outside our homes: To live our urban experience; to experience OUR kitchen in any corner of the city.

Chapter IX

Open kitchen lifestyle: Every corner has a delicious surprise

“Neighbors didn’t know each other” Creative Partner Jesus Alvarez El Narval

We have been activating communities for seven years around Monterrey Mexico. We go by the name of El Narval. We are based in Tampiquito: a small but vibrant neighborhood where we have learned a lot about getting along with the community. We realize that the neighbors didn’t know each other; not even by name, and in some cases they have never ever walk their neighborhood. The idea of a Gastro-tour was born as an experiment for recognizing ones

environment within a pleasant experience: Eating at someone´s home. The main idea is to provoke some sort of citizen awakenigs by walking. Normally, a Gastro-Tour is made out of 3 to 4 host houses, a mile and a half walk, 20 to 30 people in the group and lots of delicious home made food. Each stop has its own special design activity using the tablecloth as a tool to write and draw. The last house is the dessert house where the patrons share their experience and findings.

Chapter IX

Open kitchen lifestyle: Every corner has a delicious surprise

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The last house is the dessert house where they share their experienceâ&#x20AC;?

In the end, the idea is to collect enough information from the neighbors and their knowledge of the district, which is then converted into friendly info graphics that we share with the municipal neighborhood committees in the hope that it makes some kind positive reaction with in the community.

A simple example of these reactions we tend to elicit can be even the old habit of asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar since now you know his/her name and who knows? Maybe you get invited for supper :) More info @ fb.com/gastrotoursmty

Chapter IX

Open kitchen lifestyle: Every corner has a delicious surprise

“I am very impulsive”

Creative Partner Michelle Sanz Painter Vegona

When I graduated from High school here in Monterrey, I was more clueless than today. I’m still clueless. Anyhow, I barely knew myself. The only thing I knew about myself was that I just wanted to enjoy life every moment and that I couldn’t care less about school. After jumping around universities, I decided to buy a 1-way ticket to Madrid, Spain. And that’s when it all started; that’s when I started to become who I am today. Being there, seeing extraordinary panoramas, traveling around, getting to know new minds

and surrounding myself with different spaces, opened my mind to a whole new level. I knew what I wanted. I realized what I liked the most was sitting down at restaurants, surrounded by interesting spaces full of lively art pieces and hanging paintings, but especially the amazing creations of the chefs. For me, trying something new was like entering a whole new world created from the mind of one person passionate enough to share it. The trepidatious feeling of suddenly appearing on a new scene, full of new

Chapter IX

Open kitchen lifestyle: Every corner has a delicious surprise

“I am aware that the only thing that’s constant in life is change”

adventures, out of nowhere, for me was priceless. I belonged to the feeling of “new”. By the time I got back, I had been accepted to culinary arts school, so i divided my time between that and painting: my other lifelong passion. I wanted all of it. I wanted to create my own new world. I want others to be in love with a piece of my mind, the same way I was in love with the experiences I’ve had in the past. I believe pleasure lies in being open to share ones point of view and invite other to partake in our journey.

My food and my paintings tell an entire story... something else happens that lies beneath all those colors and textures and by getting to know them, you get to know the me of today. These creations are the base of the world I am now living in, and all I want is to share my experience. I am aware that the only thing that’s constant in life is change. I know this world won’t be new forever. The only thing I know is that my next new world will be much better.

Chapter X

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no matter the level

“Some categories are just armored against competition”

Concept by Foodlosofia

How can we make the small business ventures compete with the big corporations? We know for a fact that competition drives improvement and innovation in business. The sad part is that some categories are just armored against competition. Some categories even allow executives to say: “I don’t care about trends. I set the trends in this category.” Even if this comment is the exception to the rule of what most companies will describe as

innovative culture, there is still an ominous myopia for innovation made by giants. It is very hard to innovate in a confetti sized area of limitations and pre-established rules of execution. That is why we need small players challenging the status quo. The ideal scenario would have them using an “uber” like distribution system and a crowdsourcing split to buy the raw materials.

Chapter X

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no matter the level

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our community has the talent and potential to change things in the futureâ&#x20AC;?

By doing so, they can compete on a level playing field with the big boys. No doubt our community has the talent and potential to change things in the future, but the entry barriers we have artificially created are too high.

Craft tamales co-branding

Chapter X

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no matter the level

“I founded TOCTOC to promote local creative young talent”

Creative Partner Alexis del Toro Designer TocToc

I am Alexis del Toro, a fast-blooming Monterrey- based designer with the sole manifesto of creating a memorable experience through the production of functional design inspired by the culture of the northern cities of Mexico and its unique people. As well as being the head designer of my own studio, I have been deeply involved with the creative community of the city, leading TOCTOC and confounding DESIGN DECODE.

The modern Mexican identity is now reaching a unique place in the global markets, in part because of the recent developments in architecture, industrial design, graphic design, illustration, cinematography, urban arts and fine arts produced by the country’s new generation of creatives. As acknowledgement of the importance of boosting contemporaryMexican design practice, I founded TOCTOC to promote local creative young talent.

Chapter X

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no matter the level

“The city’s urban fabric craves the exposure of authentic and true creative expression” The creative group organises culture-driven events, competitions and exhibitions throughout Mexico. Since 2009, TOCTOC design community has grown and developed thanks to its network of local, national, and international collaborators. I believe that the city’s urban fabric craves the exposure of authentic and true creative expression, and so the creation of DECODE

aims to fill this desire. The “DECODE DESIGN FEST” is dedicated to the creation, diffusion, and promotion of good functional Mexican design in the state of Monterrey through lectures, design workshops and a month-long exhibition of the best projects of design students around the state.

Chapter X

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no matter the level

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no mater the level

“The concept is to promote fair trade and create a closer link between producers and consumers

Foodlosofia Founding Partner Marigel Zambrano New Marias Co-Founder

My name is Marigel Zambrano. I am one of the founding partners of Foodlosofia, and also the owner of NEW MARIAS. Both are a direct consequence of my passion for Mexico, food and a healthy lifestyle. I believe in Mexico. I believe in the our people and our creative talent. When I started NEW MARIAS I wanted to create a platform to showcase Mexican talent, and give craftsman of all sizes and levels the opportunity to make an impact.

The concept of NEW MARIAS is to promote fair trade, and create a closer link between producers and consumers, showing great products made by great people. That is why we choose the tagline “Curaduria Artesanal” or Craftsman Curating. The NEW MARIAS travel around Mexico looking for the what the good people are doing, how their creative potential is making the new cool trendy product that instantly belongs in the shelves of the urban centers

Chapter X

Community vitrine: A showcase of the best no matter the level

“We want to impact people for the better”

of Mexico. This process is something that would normally take years, or never in other cases, due to the nature of markets, brands and capitalism. Our concept has a very well established set of values, our curating philosophy, to ensure that every product you see on our shelves fits certain conditions. A very important part of our offer are snacks, especially dehydrated mixes of vegetables, fruits and

nuts. There we only offer healthy mixes, and we are constantly looking for new ways to integrate better ingredients and habits in our snacking lifestyle. We want to impact people for the better. Most of the time, the only thing people with talent need is an opportunity. We aim to provide that. We want the consumers to walk in the store and to be overwhelmed by the undiscovered talent of Mexico.

Every time people come to our store we surprise them with more: more talent, more products, more Mexico. A new “made in Mexico”.

Chapter XI

Taste airport: Where exotic arrives and the regional goes abroad

“There is a strong link between food and nomadism”

XI Concept by Foodlosofia

There is a special pleasure in traveling, especially when visiting a new destination. If you are lucky enough, the pleasure of discovery will start on the road or on the airplane when you open this “bento box” of new experiences that mix the place of origin and the destination. There is a strong link between food and nomadism. If we were moving or travelling all the time, there would be no need for new

food. The road itself would present us with infinite meal choices and permutations. The truth is that we spend most of our time static, not only siting in the same place, but moving around the same area. We need food to travel for us and bring us the best benchmarks from around the world to keep us excited and hungry to discover more.

Chapter XI

Taste airport: Where exotic arrives and the regional goes abroad

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Food will travel for us and bring back new flavorsâ&#x20AC;?

Portable Mexican table setting.

Chapter XI

Taste airport: Where exotic arrives and the regional goes abroad

Creative Partners Diego Echegaray Mateus Bolson Ruzzarin DJs/Producers Realistic fiction

“Traveling implies no more regionalism that we can take music from anywhere and make it mexican” Since the early years of our friendship, back when we were teammates for a computer game called Warcraft 3, we developed a strong understanding of each other. This proved to be essential several years later when we got into the electronic music scene and lived together in Sao Paulo. Today we don’t live in the same country anymore, so we work by ourselves at our own pace and style, send samples to each other, and FaceTime until we get something cool in our hands. This set is about traveling and taste. Our view is that regional artistic value can be

significantly improved by adding exotic flavors from abroad. So, what ingredients from abroad add flavor to electronic music? By weaving this concept into our music, we created a delicious international symphonic bacchanal. Our greatest influence for this set comes from Mexico, which has taught us through their food how to make passionate and emotional music. We begin our trip with savory notes from Spain and then we travel north across the sophisticated palate of France until we come to appreciate a mouthful of

Chapter XI

Taste airport: Where exotic arrives and the regional goes abroad

You can listen to the mix here:

soundcloud.com/realisticfiction

Euphoria Music and camping Festival 2015

underground music in the U.K. Afterwards, we head east for a quick stop in Berlin for some vanguard tech house, then north again to meet the great progressive house Lord of Stockholm. After indulging our senses in Sweden, we cross the Atlantic and land in Canada for some melodic comfort food. From there, we cross the great United States of America to land straight in the heart of our beloved Mexico to chill hard with Master Gil Montiel. We then take a boat from Acapulco, moving south into the Pacific

to dock in Santiago, then across Argentina and into our delicious final destination: Brazil. We close by honoring one of the greatest Mexican musicians of all time. We believe that traveling implies no more regionalism, that we can take music from anywhere and make it Mexican by Mexican hand. The modern world is too small for people to act as if they are so different, we can all understand each other if we drop a few preconceptions and dogmas.

Chapter XII

Branded Nature: Commodities with high aspiration and value

Branded Nature: Commodities with high aspiration and value What do brands stand for today?

XII Concept by Foodlosofia

We are living in a market of brands, added value, premium experiences, and premium prices. How can countries that survive on commodities compete with the perceived value of aspirational multi-million dollar brands? What do brands even stand for? Quality? Status? Cost? Arrogance? Unfair trade? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to tell if a banana covered in LV texture tastes better, or if a fish with an apple sticker is more intuitive to use. Brands

change our perception of value. In a new territory between denomination of origin, fair trade and place branding, there is a new territory for empathic story telling. Mexico does this in a natural, everyday type of way: out of necessity derived from a constant struggle between craft vendors and multinational industries. Developing countries should aspire to keep adding value to their commodities and to

Chapter XII

Branded Nature: Commodities with high aspiration and value

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Developing countries should aspire to keep adding value to their commoditiesâ&#x20AC;?

imprint their cultural heritage into their brands and products. This would help them to keep for themselves both the added value and the added margins multi-nationals thrive on.

Multinational branded oranges

Chapter XII

Branded Nature: Commodities with high aspiration and value

Branded Nature: Commodities with high aspiration and value “love for avocados has brought me here to the country where they come from”

Creative Partner Christiane Büssgen Industrial Designer La Brotería

XII

I am Christiane Büssgen, a German designer living in Monterrey, Mexico since 2012. About five years ago, living in Vienna, Austria and working with WOKA Lamps Vienna, I started collecting the skin of the avocados I ate. Eventually I had dried shells all over my apartment : small and big ones, some turned into a dark purple, others just got brown and wrinkly, some stayed green and kept the rounded shape. I was excited to see the beauty that some of the dried skins revealed. I liked my Avocado shells as objects. I liked to collect them; see them changing with

time; but being a designer, I felt I had to go further... So eventually I made molds of the avocado shells to make replicas in porcelain. This little object was what first caught the attention of my now partner Jesus 4lonso. It led to a long exchange of drawings and was the beginning of our love story. My love for avocados has brought me here to the country where they come from: a country to which I had no connection to before. I chose to present this project for my theme “Branded Nature” because for me as a european living in Mexico, I learned to

Chapter XII

Branded Nature: Commodities with high aspiration and value

“The avocado has become a superfood worldwide”

appreciate the value of the avocado even more. It is a celebration to cut it in half and see the bright green creamy flesh inside. For me it is the queen of vegetables. Just in recent years, the avocado has become a superfood worldwide and is recognized for its highly nutritional benefits. In Mexico, it is deeply rooted in the nation’s culture and a part of each meal in all social classes.

But also, it is ‘just’ a daily staple. It grows in abundance, and the quality is excellent. My golden avocado represents the richness of produce that Mexico has and exports to the world - the avocado with a golden skin becomes decadent and converts into an object of luxury.

Chapter XIII

Taco is the new burger: Moving from macro-plastic to micro-crafty

XIII Concept by Foodlosofia

One of Mexico’s gifts to the world. The true taco model comes as a cure to the fast food pandemic. Tortillas are supposed to be freshly made, raising the bar to new supply chains and processes. Fillings are mostly protein heavy, to balance out the carbohydrate consumption. The tortilla is, by design, one of the most versatile and ergonomic foods ever made. It is sometimes even used to replace cutlery in Mexico, a common practice in most

socio-economic levels. There is a story telling angle about the “taquero” that is so accessible and social it should be a global practice. We all love burgers, but speed and profits are destroying a business model that was part of this generation’s childhood. The taco model is here to raise the bar, set new standards and bring the business core back to where it belongs.

Chapter XIII

Taco is the new burger: Moving from macro-plastic to micro-crafty

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The tortilla is, by design one of the most versatile and ergnomic foods ever madeâ&#x20AC;?

Taco sausage and pico de gallo chucrut

Chapter XIII

Taco is the new burger: Moving from macro-plastic to micro-crafty

Taco is the new burger: Moving from macro-plastic to micro-crafty “Tacos are basically taking over”

Creative Partner Federico Lobeira Founder / La Fabrica Del Taco

XIII

Hi, my name is , Federico Lobeira. I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. I have been in 12 different schools (lots of movement and i am very restless). This also makes a very hungry, curious human being and I have lived in 3 different countries for more than 10 years each. I have also thought of, opened and managed in three different countries by the ripe old age of 28. I am also the owner of what I think to be the Best Taqueria in the World: La Fabrica del Taco. Basically i’ve been around and traveling looking for cool things to see and eat; to make cool places for people to hang and enjoy beautiful art while you eat away at my Tacos.

Tacos are basically taking over. It has been a sleeping giant for so long, and it has been badly done and re-done so many times for so many years that as soon as we get it right, it will definitely be the next hamburger (recognization-wise). Everyone wants to get into the taco game right now. French dudes with three star Michelin restaurants want in and so do young up and comers who were eating and smoking not so long ago. It’s cool, fun and can be very healthy. You work and make great tacos for people to be happy! It is very simple, EVERYTHING FITS INTO A TORTILLA.

Chapter XIII

Taco is the new burger: Moving from macro-plastic to micro-crafty

“You can put anything in a tortilla, you can color it any way you want” This means that you can put anything in between those edges!! It makes you feel good, happy; like you’re at home, and its also great for your health. Its simple to make these can range from something as simple as a rice + slice of avocado to something really details as a Tuna Ceviche with mango sauce and sea salt. You can make anything with a tortilla. It’s like Bubba Said in Forrest Gump: “Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs,

shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.” Same as with tacos. You can put anything in a tortilla. You can color it any way you want (corn comes in all colors, flavors. You can make ’em meaty, veggie, vegan. You can eat ‘em with your friends, girlfriend, exgirflriend, their ex-girlfriend, and families. At parties , taquerias or just by your lonesome at home.

Will it be bigger than the Hamburger???!!They will rule and satisfy the comfort food world. That’s a fact. Its Taco Time. and everybody who has tried them, wants better ones made and a place near their home to eat. So yeah, Tacos are taking over with the Hamburger, and leaving little or no crumbs behind.

Chapter XIV

Dgitox: Healthy lifestyle made electronic-less

Digitox: Healthy lifestyle made electronic-less

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A week without checking statusesâ&#x20AC;?

XIV Concept by Foodlosofia

What is healthier: a 1-week program consisting of only drinking green juices that look like a salad milkshake, or a 1-week program completely free of the digital world? A week without checking statuses, checking in at places, group messages or emoticons; just you and the real world around you. Food will face a challenge in the future: reconnecting people. Beyond the fake

connections and hundreds of virtual friends, we keep going back to what is real; to what matters most: family, friends, neighborsâ&#x20AC;Ś As a call for a technology and process detox, food looks back to simple things, simple ingredients, simple pleasures, hand made things and sensitive to all its implications.

Chapter XIV

Dgitox: Healthy lifestyle made electronic-less

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Something we know, trust and understandâ&#x20AC;?

We can replicate even the most industrialized products at home, making all the ingredients and the preparation process something we know, trust and understand.

Home made healthy cheese puffs

Chapter XIV

Dgitox: Healthy lifestyle made electronic-less

Digitox: Healthy lifestyle made electronic-less

“This font shows a rigid structure in metamorphosis”

Foodlosofia Team Member Jorge Flores Typography Design Designer

XIV

Anie and Pablo have been dating for 5 months. They met on Tinder, The conversation was so fluent that they appeared to have a strange “textual chemistry” messaging each other, like they had met before. Little did they know they’d been dating for 5 months plus many years of past lives, past times and universes, always meeting one way or another. 2 years later they decided to live together like it was destined. Suddenly Pablo received a proposal to go and work abroad for 2 years,

and Anie showing her support let him leave. Some months after Anie wakes up with doubts: everything is impersonal, impatient, despite talking every day with each other, she felt empty. She was about to make a decision when all of the sudden mixed in the mail with the bills and the payments she sees a letter addressed to her from Madrid. She saw the strokes on the paper made by Pablo’s hand, the threads from past lives that bind them together, from all the past letters they used to send each other back in the

Chapter XIV

Dgitox: Healthy lifestyle made electronic-less

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe we need to reconcile with the old customs, and then perhaps we can rediscover each otherâ&#x20AC;?

colony, from the hieroglyphics they carved on walls to tell their love, for a second she felt it all back like it was the first time. After some time, they were together again, like they were meant to be. It was love at first sight all over again.

The message on your cellphone may be the same you got 1000 years ago, but the way of getting it is far from the human side. Maybe we need to reconcile with the old customs, and then perhaps we can rediscover each other.

Chapter XV

Out of Homemade: Freshly made qualitative ingredients with love from the street

XV Concept by Foodlosofia

“Mexico is a Mecca of street food”

Mexico is a Mecca of street food. It’s a place where food trucks selling tacos and “antojitos” have been trendy for the past 100 years; a place where you can find, on any street corner, fresh fruits and vegetables prepared beautifully at an incredibly affordable price. As most developing countries with a nomadic lifestyle, people are away from home for long periods of time. At the same

time, most “stay at home” moms have 2 or 3 jobs and not a lot of time to cook or, even worse, teach their children about cooking. This context gives birth to a distorted phrase: “Home-made food”. Where do we find freshly made food with qualitative ingredients, a special sauce, and with careful extra touches? In the streets.

Chapter XV

Out of Homemade: Freshly made qualitative ingredients with love from the street

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Home cooking has become a legendâ&#x20AC;?

Where do we find the most processed, generic, instant and frozen products? At home. Soon we may have fancy new products on the supermarket shelves with the claim: OUT OF HOME MADE.

Chicken and mole bites

Chapter XV

Out of Homemade: Freshly made qualitative ingredients with love from the street

Out of Homemade: Freshly made qualitative ingredients with love from the street “Food has always been related with a mother figure”

Creative Partner Isaac Contreras Designer Anagrama

XVI XV

The lean graphic aesthetic of my work intends to put more emphasis on the message than the illustration itself. With basic colors and often monochromatic, either if its analog or digital, I try to use illustration as a tool to express what I can’t tell through design. Most of my work is based solely on my current interests and mildly influenced by pop culture, more recently in food and everything that surrounds it.

Almost everyone comes from a house where food has always been related with a mother figure. As soon as one tastes our mother’s food, we feel immediately at home, and as soon as we try similar food outside our home we will compare it with our mom’s or grandma’s recipe. The same way my mother unconsciously created these first “food memories” for me, each mother has done with their own kids.

Chapter XV

Out of Homemade: Freshly made qualitative ingredients with love from the street

“Every gordita, every tamal has a very unique mother’s touch” same city. It knowing how these women are using their “mother skills” as a source of income to sustain hundreds of families in Mexico. Actually customers are eating the same food they give to their own kids.

With these illustrations, I wanted to try to bring those memories back and place them on the actual urban food culture, and talk about my experience of eating street food as a part of discovering the true essence of Mexico. Tamales, gorditas, elotes or even the hot dogs that are sold in the streets are all about real life and real people. When you eat a gordita in the street, you can’t help talking to the lady who is preparing it. It is

precisely at this time when you realize that your reality is just a single piece of the real story of Mexico. Originally, all of these small businesses were run by women, most of the time, mothers and household heads that informally prepared food on the streets as a source of income. Eating in the street is realizing that there are different stories coexisting in the

Just like street food, illustration has become a representation of the actual urban culture; a way to remind us of the value of homemade food and inspire us with the stories of the women that without planning it, have created the culture of street food based on homemade knowledge.

Chapter XVI

Macro Tables: We sit together to share more than food

“Eating is a very intimate process”

XVI Concept by Foodlosofia

Eating is a very intimate process. In most cultures, eating is the core pillar of social bonding. There is something very primitive and raw about siting around the same space and eating together. From a very “hunter-gatherer” perspective, eating is a form of caring, nurturing the

ones in need and growing as a community. The question is, have we started to eat more alone or in smaller groups because we don’t need as much real company? Is it because we don’t require social interaction, or is it because we have stopped sitting and sharing food with our families and friends for so long that we have grown apart and

Chapter XVI

Macro Tables: We sit together to share more than food

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is still a lot of room for siting togetherâ&#x20AC;?

stated caring a little less? Thankfully, in modern Mexico there is still a lot of room for siting together. This serves as call to action to sit more people in the same table, maybe a whole family, or a full street and maybe someday a whole city.

Dip and share bread

Chapter XVI

Macro Tables: We sit together to share more than food

Creative Partner Alonso Mortera Architect Pon Tu Mesa

XVI

“The idea is simple, eating while making new friends” When I got into this, it wasn’t because I was looking for something new to do. My curiosity for learning about cities, people and food during my various travels led me to have great experiences. Because of that, I started to throw dinner parties at my house with two other friends who happened to be great chefs. That’s how we started Pon Tu Mesa. The idea revolves around creating an online food community for people that love eating

and socializing. It’s open to the public, so anyone can host a food event at their own house, and anyone can get to go by purchasing an online ticket. When we started Pon Tu Mesa, we knew we had to overcome a few challenges in order to make it work. In a city that was experiencing a high wave of insecurity at the time, we were encouraging people to be more open. By the end of the first year we had helped organize over 25 food events.

Chapter XVI

Macro Tables: We sit together to share more than food

By taking this model into other countries, we could experience their culture in a more intimate way.

“We were connecting people through food”

It’s a great opportunity to get to know the locals, taste their food and perhaps experience a moment full of traditions. In Pon Tu Mesa, the table becomes a stage for social interaction where a community and social gathering takes place at the same time. At some point, we realized that we were doing more than just food events. We weren’t just sharing food. We were connecting people through food.

Chapter XVI

Macro Tables: We sit together to share more than food

“Language is the first step in the materialization of an abstract idea”

Foodlosofia Founding Partner Diego Bolson Ruzzarin Visual Poetry CEO Foodlosofia

XVI

When I have to use my creativity to solve a problem, words are my best tools. I grew up playing with Legos, almost exclusively. I also had the good fortune of growing up in many different places with several different languages. For me, Legos and languages are equally modular. Someone told me that language is the the first step in the materialization of an abstract idea. We are forced to make whatever we have in our minds fit in the format of expression. Speaking about ideas and concepts is my biggest passion, I am known for making up words that don’t really exist but kind of make sense. In this topic I chose to pay a

tribute to visual poetry, and write a piece about the dynamics of sharing a table. Each seat is an individual monologue. The table itself is but a channel, and the full structure can be read as a transformational dialog. This should be read more by the significance of the form than the meaning of the content, just like language. So many problems we have today could be solved over a casual conversation if we are really open to understand others and challenge our predisposed ideas of right and wrong. Tables and great food can provide the perfect context. We need to do the rest.

Chapter XVI

Macro Tables: We sit together to share more than food

Chapter XVII

New Comfort: What we have always loved ready for tomorrow’s lifestyle

New Comfort: What we have always loved ready for tomorrows lifestyle “Food is about conventions”

XVII

Innovation is moving at incredible speeds in many categories such as technology, services, health, and lifestyle.

Concept by Foodlosofia

To rephrase, these categories have reached a certain level of maturity where innovation and design thinking is part of the DNA of the market. Innovation and design as business strategy. So the question is, what is the right speed

for food innovation? What are the limits? Do we want to eat the same thing every day? Not really. Do we want foam eggs and nitrogen frozen bacon every morning? Not really. Food is about conventions. With a new cellphone, if you don’t like it, you can just change it but with food, once you take a bite, that is it, the food is part of you. The level of intrusion is much higher. That is why the speed and limit

Chapter XVII

New Comfort: What we have always loved ready for tomorrow’s lifestyle

“Once you take a bite the food is part of you” of innovation of both food and drinks is unique. We can get inspired by other categories, but the we need to determine the right speed for our market. There will always be room for the reinventing the classics and for re-playing the basics. In order to create future comfort zones for food we need to start from a solid base of love stories, nostalgia, and traditional teachings. Solid and liquid energy combo

Chapter XVII

New Comfort: What we have always loved ready for tomorrow’s lifestyle

Creative Partner Jorge Diego Etienne Industrial Designer Jorge Diego Etienne

“Good design transcends objects combining cultural elements with tech” I believe good design transcends objects combining cultural elements with technology, functionality with emotions and can have a very positive impact in our daily routines to create memorable experiences.

New Comfort is not only a matter of how we re-contextualize what we love. It must take into account our culture, values and traditions in order to preserve them in our contemporary life.

My studio works as a strategic consultancy using industrial design as a tool for a company’s growth, new concepts exploration and to push tradition into a contemporary context.

Design must take into account our identity as a foundation to build upon with subtlety and grace, and create for it a fit in the new functions and aesthetics.

XVII

Chapter XVII

New Comfort: What we have always loved ready for tomorrow’s lifestyle

“Mexican cultural icon turned into everyday product”

Molcaware is a Mexican cultural icon turned into an everyday product. The container works storing, heating and serving salsa, one of the most important elements in our gastronomy. Its inspiration comes from the original methods of crushing and grinding spices, chilies, and vegetables with a three leg mortar and pestle.

The design exercise understands the value of our food history and makes an ideal design for how we eat it today.

Chapter XVIII

Impressive With Simplicity: A vitrine for new ingredients and techniques

XVIII Concept by Foodlosofia

There is so much beauty and pleasure to be discovered in simple things. It’s just a matter of contemplation. It seems today that rule of the game is speed and quantity. We consume so much entertainment that obesity seems more like a mental problem than a physical one. The sunset isn’t less beautiful because we fail to observe it in detail. In the food business, it seems like overcomplicated claims, functional attributes and ingredients

“The sunset isn’t less beautiful because we fail to observe it in detail”

are saturating the packaging of whatever we buy. In contrast, it’s hard to be amazed by the perfection of a grape, an egg or a cactus. The word simple does not mean lack of content or meaning. In the food industry, simplicity is hard to achieve. It takes more thinking, empathy and depth to create brilliant, simple products than it does for overcomplicated banal products.

Chapter XVIII

Impressive With Simplicity: A vitrine for new ingredients and techniques

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Richness that requires little work to impressâ&#x20AC;?

Mexico is a country full of natural richness; richness that requires little work to impress and enchant. True value should be simple, immediate and transparent.

Nopal ice cream sandwich

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Chapter XVIII

Impressive With Simplicity: A vitrine for new ingredients and techniques

Impressive With Simplicity: A vitrine for new ingredients and techniques “Whether animal, mineral, plant or root, nature is the source and we are the conduit”

Creative Partner Andrea Magaña Textile designer

My name is Andrea Magaña, and I am a textile designer. I’ve always been in love with craftsmanship, specifically involving the use of natural fibers and textiles.

flavors, scents and noises. I consider myself a curious being, and my curiosity has led me to the intoxicating, and endless world of experimentation.

This is not only because of the intricate designs and the delicacy they are made with, but by the enormous significance they carry and the cultures they represent. We are surrounded by a vast world of possibilities at our fingertips; from colors and textures, to

For this project, I picked un-dyed sheep’s wool (Ovis orientalis) and jute (Corchorus capsularis). Whether animal, mineral, plant, or root, nature is the source and we are the conduit.

XVIII

101 Chapter XVIII

Impressive With Simplicity: A vitrine for new ingredients and techniques

â&#x20AC;&#x153;techniques to express his consciousness in new waysâ&#x20AC;?

The art of weaving has existed for centuries. Man has continually established new techniques to express his consciousness in new ways. From the clothes we wear to the sacred and decorative cloth ancient cultures used ceremonially, I believe Mexico has inspired a great number of individuals through the importance of textile in our folklore and

tradition. They inspired me to explore the art of weaving and revive this centuries old tradition with a conscious, sustainable and innovative approach for the contemporary.

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Chapter XIX

Solo is the new Social: Happy hour in front of the computer

“We are at our most social state when we are alone.”

XIX Concept by Foodlosofia

Most global trotters will relate to being in a very social mood, alone, in front of the computer or on their phones. Let’s take this assumption and transport it a couple of years into the future. We are at our most social state when we are alone. Even in front of our friends, at the same table or in the same room, we prefer to talk to others that are not there. This is, of course, much easier when our avatars and virtual personas are often idealized and much cooler than

our real self. The question is, why can’t we enjoy a margarita or tequila when we are in a super social mood, even if we are alone? There is a growing gap between party or social product sizes and the actual consumption occasion. We need to rethink most of our product designs based on a new social paradigm. We need to pamper to the mindset and lifestyle beyond the stereotypes of typical old school social behaviors.

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Chapter XIX

Solo is the new Social: Happy hour in front of the computer

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need to rethink most of our product designs based on a new social paradigmâ&#x20AC;?

Margarita Totopos

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Chapter XIX

Solo is the new Social: Happy hour in front of the computer

“My priority and main challenge is to take risks”

Creative Partner Ivan García Art director / Photographer Futura

XIX

I am Ivan Garcia, an aesthetic-passionate designer-photographer. In 2008, I cofounded Futura, an independent Mexican design studio. In a competitive creative world, my priority and main challenge is to take risks. I believe in transforming the fear of being different and maybe even wrong into professional growth, experience and knowledge. Some years ago, I gained an interest in the subject of loneliness in the dining area. I was thinking about the contrasts and

negative sides of eating alone. I have been collaborating with a Mexican chef, Alfredo Villanueva and we made a video about the unlimited social boundaries of sharing food. The responsibility of a good chef is not just make good recipes, It’s a deeper story of how a good meal can create new friendships and a bigger community. But I re-question myself: What about the positive sides of eating alone? The heart of the Mexican food culture is about sharing food. But nowadays with the evolution of our modern daily lifestyle, we don’t have time to meet and share lunch with our beloved.

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Chapter XIX

Solo is the new Social: Happy hour in front of the computer

“Feeling social is a really personal perception” Because it’s more convenient, we are eating alone in close-by places. Mexico is a country of street food interactions that offers a lot of options. People don’t eat in-home anymore. They go in the street and enjoy freshly made dishes by themselves. We obviously feel more social eating alone in the street than having home dinner while checking our social network on the phone. I have been living in Mexico city for a year and already have an extended list of good places to eat alone in this city. I am speaking about places where you feel better and you

dont need a book to look intellectual; places where the people there give you an amazing welcome and make you feel comfortable while respecting your solo mood. Feeling social is a really personal perception; something inside us. I realized a collection of photography about this contrast of appearance and feeling. Nowadays, we can feel social even in solo context. In our modern culture, loneliness is associated to a sad area. Being alone

would be something to reject, avoid, hide… I am convinced that our Mexican way of enjoying street food, alone, has a lot to share to the world. We need to forget this solo-guilt and learn how to welcome and enjoy a new solo-social.

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Chapter XX

Corn almighty: The starting point of a never ending story

Corn Almighty: The starting point of a never ending story

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mexico can teach the world about the infinite potential of cornâ&#x20AC;?

XX Concept by Foodlosofia

In a super simplified way, at least 15 iconic Mexican food products can be described as a corn base with fillings. This obviously is an exaggeration and even an unfair insult to the richness and incredible creativity of Mexican food and drinks. In the same way there are over 50 different words for snow in Canada, Mexico can teach the world about the infinite potential of corn. To get so much out of so little and to get incredible richness out of something so basic is really inspiring. Exploring the full spectrum of salty, sweet,

spicy, sour, and acidic flavors. Showcasing textures from chewy to crunchy, from light to dense. Even beyond the expected, corn becomes functional tools, drinks, and objects while still being embedded at the core of the culture. In contrast to fancy and trendy ancestral grains, corn has always been there, and probably will always be. The next step is to invent the next generation of corn products to enchant the world beyond Mexico.

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Corn almighty: The starting point of a never ending story

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The next step is to invent the next generation of corn products to enchant the world beyond Mexicoâ&#x20AC;? Atolle drink latte style

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Corn almighty: The starting point of a never ending story

Corn Almighty: The starting point of a never ending story â&#x20AC;&#x153;We bring people together to share more than a drinkâ&#x20AC;?

Creative Partners Bruno Vega, Mixology Oscar Romo and Juan P. Escobedo, Partners Maverick

At Maverick, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been very proud of our city. We are truly fans of its origins, history, and its characters that had brought greatness, well being and sincere sense of community to this country. This vision inspires us to create things with that mindset, to become a part of that big whole that needs little things to be great. We believe that with our small bar and its cocktails, we bring people together to share

more than a drink. We gather them to share visions, ideas and to contribute to make a better coexistent city. Our ancestors believed that Corn was a life giver and for this, many celebrations arose from it. Giving birth to our own very special culture in which we live and enjoy now these days.

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Corn almighty: The starting point of a never ending story

We wanted to pay tribute to all this. The better way to do it so, is to put the roots of our city and country with what we do better: Mixing cocktails.

With these ingredients mixed all together, we give birth to Corn Almighty to express our history, our complex culture and what we are as people with our own uniqueness that we happily share with the whole wide world.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our ancestors believed that corn was a life giverâ&#x20AC;?

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Thanks

Mexico food and design

Thank you for reading There is something very unique about sharing a meal with someone else. This book was full of delicious concepts that we wanted to share. We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop sharing. I think our reality is becoming so competitive and egocentric that we are slowly walking to a very dark place. Competition is leading to less sharing. I believe that very few individuals around the world can actually make a change for the better, and these individuals have the biggest responsibility: The responsibility to make every situation a win-win situation. Sitting everyone on the same table is a call for moderation, for human empathy, for dialogue and understanding. I believe that humans are fundamentally good and there are no benefits in othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; misery. That is my take on food design, a discipline that can help us bring more meaning and human empathy to the F&B business.

I am so happy about the process and creation of this piece. It was a process of continuous learning for me personally. I am so thankful for the design team that made this possible as well as the partners and families that supported us in the process. In this little book, so many brilliant friends have shared their talent and work with us. In the same spirit, we are sharing this book with you, kind reader, and we only hope that you will share your point of view about it with others. Diego Bolson Ruzzarin CEO Foodlosofia

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Credits

Mexico food and design

Credits Daniel Alanis, daniel.alanis@gmail.com Jesus Alvarez, info@elnarval.com Diego Bolson, diego@foodlosofia.com Mateus Bolson, mateus.r86@gmail.com Christiane Bussgen, christianebussgen@gmail.com Isaac Contreras, isaac.contreras88@yahoo.com Carlos Davila, carlosgdavila@reverieworkshop.com Jorge Diego Etienne, info@jorgediegoetienne.com Juan Pablo Escobedo, jescobedom@gmail.com Ivan García, ivan@futura.com Camilo Garza, camilogarza@gmail.com Patricio Garza, info@capitalnatural.com.mx Salomé Le Lay, salome@foodlosofia.com Frederico Lobeira, federico.lobeira@gmail.com Andrea Magaña, andrea.mgnt@gmail.com Ermilo Magaña, milo@foodlosofia.com Jorge Isaac Martínez, jorge@foodlosofia.com Gil Montiel, gil.montielg@gmail.com Alonso Mortera, alonso.mortera@gmail.com Pedro Reissig - preissig@gmail.com Alexis Del Toro, alexis@toctoc.mx Diego Trevino, diegoet316@hotmail.com Rubén Sepúlveda, ruben@deararchitects.com Michelle Sanz, ssvegona@gmail.com Bruno Vega, brunovega.maverick@gmail.com Ignacio De Zamacona , nacho@foodlosofia.com Marigel Zambrano, marigelzg@hotmail.com