Sophie Huntke, UNISG Alumna and Team Lead Sales at Too Good To Go, calls new gastronomes to join her in saving food!
Where does your passion for Gastronomy come from and why did you decide to study at the Master in Food Culture, Communication and Marketing in Pollenzo?
As far back as I can remember, my love for good food and wine has run like a thread through my life. Understandable, because I grew up in the beautiful Mosel region. I started cooking and experimenting in the kitchen at an early age and even though I toyed with the idea of becoming a chef every now and then, I knew that the kitchen is a damn tough place to work, especially for women. That’s why I first decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communication and cultural management. But after a brief stopover at a PR agency for high-quality food, I had to admit to myself that I wanted to immerse myself even more in the world of food before deciding on a profession. And what better place to do that than at a university where everything revolves around the history, development, and innovation of food?
What was your path like after graduating UNISG and what values do you still carry in your everyday life and job?
At the career fair in Pollenzo, I met my two future employers who had just founded a consultancy in Berlin with the goal of helping organisations to make all steps along the food value chain more sustainable. This focus on innovation and sustainability was a great fit with what I had learned at university and what became a mantra in my life: Making people understand the value of food again and changing their perception of consumption. I went on to write my master’s thesis at this company, which looked at the sociological and social changes in meat consumption. Then what happened to many newcomers in Berlin happened to me: the originally planned three months turned into years, and at the moment I can’t imagine living in another city that offers so much in the area of food.
What are the most relevant steps of your career and how did you arrive at Too Good to Go?
After my first experiences in the fields of sustainability and innovation, I wanted to continue pursuing my passions in this area. I decided to work for a company that, with simple measures, enables many people around the world to save food from being thrown away every day. In order to do this, I did something I had never considered before: I started a job in Sales at Too Good To Go in Berlin (but, I thought, if you like to talk as much as I do, Sales is the right place to be). While I was spending the first few months trying to win new partners for the Too Good To Go app, the pandemic started and the culinary industry was hit hard. Too Good To Go developed a process to help gastronomes within a couple of days and that impressed me. After my first year and a half in Sales, I was offered the Team Lead position and since then I’ve been leading a team that manages to convince new gastronomes to join us in saving food every day. In 2022, Too Good To Go is the world’s leading platform for reducing food wastage and is operating in 17 countries. And honestly, I can’t imagine a cooler team to work with.
Before I started at Too Good To Go, I pursued another passion of mine and completed the junior sommelier training. Since then, I’ve been super happy leading wine tastings (big fan of natural wines). The last tasting I organized was a charity tasting in order to help victims of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, which hit winemakers especially hard. But you can also find me as a speaker at different events and fairs, where I talk about preventing food waste. You see, talking and food have actually become my profession.
If you think of your role today at work and in society, how would you say UNISG has enriched you?
UNISG taught me a lot. I learned the value of food. I learned a lot about its history, its cultural connections and the challenges to our modern ways of eating and producing food. I learned to talk about food, to write about it and evaluate it. But most of all, I found people, friends, and role models who love food as much as I do and who are already dreaming about the next meal while eating their current one.
What would you suggest to someone who wants to start a ‘food’ path from Pollenzo?
Don’t do it if: You are not a fan of studying in the most beautiful place in the world, eating in the best canteen in the world, making friends for life and talking about food and wine every day, then I totally advise you not to study in Pollenzo. In all honesty, if you want to immerse yourself in the world of food, learn all about it and build a strong network, this is the place for you.
