WWF and Sodexo came to Cracked with a purpose – to help secondary school students understand the benefits of plant-based eating, trial veg-powered options, and inspire them to add more of these meals into their diets.

The plan of action? A one-day, plant-powered pop-up experience in schools to feed curiosity!

Sparking new behaviour

But sustainable change isn’t overnight. So, we recommended an extended three-month self-delivery campaign through Plant+ by Finer Diner, a concept to inspire positive environmental change in students’ behaviour.

Through Plant+’s toolkits, curated plant-based menus (including Future 50 Foods), engaging point-of-sale materials, and a feature reusable pledge tree, we’d educate more, create greater exposure for their message, and spark lasting change. Getting more bang for their buck in the process.

And to really up the ante? We created a community of student ambassadors to supercharge the campaign’s success (giving them goodie bags and CV-boosting recommendation letters from WWF as extra motivation!), introduced a £1000 eco prize fund for the school with the most engagement, and awarded a trophy to the catering team that achieved the highest engagement and dish sales!

Extending the campaign into the classroom, we also made sure teachers were empowered and engaged with educational resources and customer lesson plans on plant-based eating. And so that menus lived and breathed the campaign over three months, we equipped catering teams with inspiring plant-based recipes and playbooks, emphasising their vital role in promoting Plant+ choices.

What lasting change looks like

Survey results showed that 50% of students felt more informed and inspired about sustainable eating and gave the Plant+ experience a 7/10 for enjoyment. Teachers’ scores on the doors were a solid 8/10 for success, while a whopping 89% of catering teams found the toolkits helpful. Thumbs up all round!

By fuelling curiosity with engaging Plant+ activations and content tailored to students, teachers and catering teams, WWF and Sodexo are now turning ideas into real habits for a brighter future.